Historical Studies (Chinese Edition)

No.6, 2017

 

Jenks’ Visit to China and Late Qing Monetary Reform(Abstract)

 

Cui Zhihai

 

In 1904, the American monetary expert Jeremiah Jenks came to China to help the Qing government carry out monetary reform. Each side claimed to be promoting trade and investment between the two countries, but their purposes were at odds. The Qing government wanted to maintain the stability of foreign exchange rates between China and other countries and retrieve the fiscal losses caused by the fall in international silver prices and the deficits in gold and silver conversion after the 1870s.The United States tried to take the opportunity to include Chinese currency in the New York-based dollar group to compete with the longtime dominance of the British pound, which would have left the US government playing the leading role in the international monetary system. The main reason the Qing government rejected Jenks’ proposal for monetary reform was that it failed to take into account Chinese sovereignty and interests and the country’s subjective and objective conditions; its failure cannot be simply ascribed to the resistance of local interests represented by the late Qing “localization of currency issuance.” Jenks failed to provide a truthful and accurate report of the talks to foreign circles and the US government, partly because he wished to take credit for himself but partly also because of the cultural and linguistic barriers between China and the United States.