Constructing a Census of Chinese Regional Industrialization for 1933. The Case of Jiangsu and Guangdong Provinces

Yi Xu; Zhihua Tang

doi:10.18352/tseg.1085

Author(s)

Yi Xu Guangxi Normal University International Institute of Social History
Zhihua Tang Guangxi Normal University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18352/tseg.1085

Keywords:

Industrialization, Jiangsu, Guangdong, Census

Abstract

Industrialization in China over the course of the twentieth century has been spectacular. Yet, the spread of industrial development has been very uneven. In this paper, we will construct a dataset on regional manufacturing for 1933, just before the industrial take-off in the twentieth century. Given the sheer size of China, we will focus on two provinces, i.e. Jiangsu (including Shanghai) and Guangdong, both of which have been associated with a large manufacturing sector. By combining the first large scale industrial census conducted by D.K. Lieu with a large number of smaller censuses, surveys, and statistical reports, we are, for the first time, able to provide regional estimates of output value for the whole manufacturing industry by sector and region as well as for the number of modern factories and their employees.

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Author Biographies

Yi Xu, Guangxi Normal University International Institute of Social History

Yi Xu (1979) is a Professor in Chinese History in Guangxi Normal University in China, and a PhD researcher at the International Institute of Social History in Amsterdam. His main research interest is quantitative economic history of China, including studies of historical national accounting, urbanization, human capital, and industrialization. He has published 16 Chinese papers in Chinese academic journals, and 3 papers in English academic journals and volume. Currently he is involved in the writing of an English volume on regional industrialization in China in 1933, cooperating with Dr. Bas van Leeuwen (International Institute of Social History).
Zhihua Tang, Guangxi Normal University

Zhihua Tang (1997) is a research assistant at Guangxi Center of Humanities and Social Sciences, and an undergraduate student in Chinese history in Guangxi Normal University, collecting the regional industry datasets for the project ‘The historical dynamics of industrialization in Northwestern Europe and China ca. 1800-2010: a regional interpretation’.