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Chapter 10 - Financial Information CHINESE CURRENCY 
"BIG" and "Small" Money. Fantastic as it may seem to the bewildered stranger in Shanghai, the currency of China is not really so complicated as it seems to be. Volumes have been written on the subject, but the visitor who is not likely to go far into the interior need not concern himself with all the complications which arise away from the main treaty ports.
Chinese currency is founded on the decimal system and is based on the national silver dollar (commonly known as "Mex."), convertible into paper notes of 10, 20 and 50 cents, known as "big money" in Shanghai, or into 10 and 20 cent silver coins, which are known as "small money" and whose relative value to the silver dollar varies from day to day. The customary rate is six 20-cent coins and a few coppers for a dollar.
Bank notes are issued by various Chinese banks ranging in value from 1, 5, 10, 50 to 100 dollars. The number of coppers to a dollar varies from day to day, usually standing around 300, but these coins are only used by the poorer class and in travelling by bus and tram (though not essential, as paper notes are accepted), so the visitor need not worry about the vagaries of copper exchange.
Until 1933, major commercial transactions were usually carried out in terms of Taels, a unit of value based upon a shoe-shaped slug of silver, and whose relation to the dollar varied from day to day, but on April 5, 1933, the Government issued a decree prohibiting the use of this form of calculation, and the use of the Tael in reckoning commercial and official transactions, professional fees, rents, etc., is gradually being abandoned.
Coppers, Cash and Paper. As a point of interest, although it will not financially concern the foreigner in Shanghai, Chinese coppers are once more divided into "cash," of which there are some 3,000 to a dollar. Cash may be small, circular coins with a square hole centered or they may be silver paper in pyramid shape which are usually carried on bamboo poles swung across a shoulder. "Cash" is the only form of money which circulates throughout all of China, other monies differing in various provinces and varying in exchange value. Paper "cash" are popular among the Chinese as "joss' (prayer) offerings to the gods and departed souls.
The newcomer in Shanghai will occasionally find himself in the possession of spurious silver coins. The initiated can usually tell by the ring of a coin whether it is good or bad.
Unification of Currency. The first step toward unifying the currency of China was taken on March 1, 1933, with the opening of the National Government Central Mint, at the north end of Gordon Road in Chapei. Up to the present time only the new standard dollar has been minted. It is planned later to make ten- and twenty-cent coins which will have the value of the present "big money" paper. In the near future there will be but five twenty-cent and ten ten cent coins to the dollar.
At the present time all of the old silver dollars are being collected for the Mint by the banks for conversion into new dollars. The Mint now (July, 1934) makes 8,000,000 dollars a month and, in addition, casts silver bars which are distributed to banks for reserve. The bars are each worth $1,000 and two hundred bars are cast daily. There has been so much civil strife in China and so many political divisions that the coins of one province seldom are accepted in another. With the establishment of the National Government Central Mint it is hoped that the currency of China will eventually become standardized.BANKS AND EXCHANGE
The vagaries of foreign exchange, further complicated by the "big" and "small" money of Chinese currency, are bewildering to the stranger in Shanghai. There is perhaps a wider range of foreign exchange in Shanghai than in any other place in the world. Any known sound currency can readily be converted into Chinese money, or vice versa. But be sure you are obtaining the proper rate.
There are hundreds of small native banks and exchange shops scattered throughout the city and as the minor Chinese financier calculates his profits on an excessively thin margin many old residents find it advantageous to give them their exchange business. But the stranger - and how promptly the Chinese can identify him - is advised to take his financial problems to the larger and more responsible banks. This also gives additional protection against counterfeit money, which is abundant in Shanghai.
Reputable Banks. There are in Shanghai a large number of foreign and Chinese banks where the stranger will be received with the same courtesy and service as in London, Paris, or New York. In the appended lists will be found the names and addresses of the principal banks. What are known as the Chinese "modern-style" banks are concerns which conduct all the usual activities of foreign banks, in distinction from the "native banks," institutions which also holds a very important place in the field of finance, but whose activities are confined to purely commercial transactions. The Chinese banks listed in this chapter are "modern-style" banks, but in addition to the ordinary routine of barking practice, as followed in foreign countries, they also maintain "native bank" departments and it is upon this section of the Chinese banking community that much of the smooth working of Shanghai's vast commercial machinery depends.Among the more important foreign financial institutions are: American Express Co., 158 Kiukiang Rd. American Oriental Banking Corp., 29 Nanking Rd. Banque Belge Pour L'Etranger, 20 The Bund. Banque de I'Indochine, 29 The Bund. Banque Franco-Chinoise, 1 French Bund. Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China, 18 The Bund. Chase Bank, 80 Kiukiang Rd. Cook and Son, Ltd., Thos. Deutsch-Asiatische Bank Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corp. Italian Bank for China Mercantile Bank of India, Ltd. Mitsubishi Bank, Ltd. Mitsui Bank, Ltd. National City Bank of New York Netherlands Trading Society P. & 0. Banking Corp. Sumitomo Bank, Ltd. Among the more important "modern style" Chinese banks are: Bank of Canton, Ltd. Bank of China Bank of Communications Bank of East Asia, Ltd. Chekiang Industrial Bank, Ltd. China Banking Corp. China State Bank, Ltd. China & South Sea Bank, Ltd. Chung Foo Union Bank Commercial Bank of China Continental Bank Joint Savings Society Kincheng Banking Corp. Manufacturers' Bank of China, Ltd National Commercial Bank, Ltd. Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp., Ltd. Shanghai Commercial & Savings Bank, Ltd. Banking Resource. Latest available banking statistics show that the combined paid-up capital of 29 leading Chinese banks in Shanghai is $156,777,676 (Mex.). These 29 banks are considered to be the largest and most important. Statistics of these banks are as follows: (Mex.) Combined Capital $156,777,676 Reserve Fund and Surplus 51,876,210 Current Accounts and Fixed Deposits 1,974,097,476 Drafts Issued 21,290,781 Notes in Circulation 430,482,554 With the exception of the American-Oriental Banking Corporation, which is owned and controlled in Shanghai, all foreign banks are branches affiliated with parent banks in other lands. Major items in the American-Oriental statement are: Capital (Paid-up) $2,832,733 (Mex.) Surplus and Undivided Profits . . 2,472,938 Deposits 9,330,435 Exchange Rates. Exchange rates fluctuate daily, with some amazing ups and downs. At one time, not long after the World War, the American dollar purchased only ninety cents Mex.; early in 1933 an American dollar was worth $5.15 (Mex.) At this writing (July, 1934) the American dollar approximates $2.90 (Mex.) There is a vast amount of speculation in exchange, gold, and silver in Shanghai. It is, in large part, a mechanism for gambling on a gigantic scale. Fortunes are won and lost in exchange. Brokers and Markets. For those who wish to "play the market" Shanghai offers a wide variety of entertainment. There is local and foreign speculation in commodities and stocks, gold bars and silver. Prompt execution of orders is given in all the leading and most of the minor markets of the world. London, Paris and New York stocks are quoted, as well as local issues, of which there are many, both bonds and shares.
Owing to the difference in time, closing quotations on the New York Stock Exchange are available in Shanghai very early in the morning.
No matter where your home may be, in Shanghai you can establish close and accurate connection with the markets in which you are interested.
Among the leading Shanghai brokerage houses are:-American Oriental Finance Corp. Benjamin & Potts Bisset & Co., J.P. Levy & Co., S.E. Rosonfeld & Son, A.B. Shahmoon & Co., E.E. Swan, Culbertson & Fritz Toeg, S.E. White & Co. Yuan Yeh & Co. REAL ESTATE AND BUILDING
Shanghai, one of the fastest growing of the world's larger cities - the modern city is largely a development of the last twenty years - has a lively and active real estate market, with a huge volume of building. The Sino-Japanese fighting of early 1932 gave a severe setback to development, but the onward rush has been resumed. Real estate transactions were placed at $90,000,000 in 1930, $183,000,000 in 1931, $25,200,000 in 1932 (the "war" year) and $43,000,000 in 1933.
Shanghai, in which is concentrated the wealth of North China, has ample funds for development projects of merit. As a matter of fact, the banks are "overloaded" with money (silver).
Building construction is at a high level in Shanghai. A tremendous amount of work is always under way, come bad times or good.
Building Values. In the International Settlement alone, building permits issued in 1933 were for 5,130 structures as against 3,439 in 1932. These buildings represented an estimated value of $35,000,000. The peak year in building was 1930 when an estimate was made by the Shanghai Municipal Council of $65,000,000.
Total Values for Shanghai. The value of new buildings in the entire Shanghai area, including the Municipality of Greater Shanghai (Chinese), International Settlement, and French Concession, has been as follows: 1929, $63,000,000; 1930, $100,000,000; 1931, $87,000,000; 1932, $50,000,000; 1933, $72,000,000.
Real Estate Brokers. Shanghai real estate offers many attractions to the prudent investor.
It is interesting to note that shortly after the promulgation of the first Land Regulations in 1845, land on The Bund sold at from $,50 to $60 a mow (7,260 square feet under original definition).
Among the more important real estate agents and firms are:
Asia Realty Co. (Fed. Inc., U.S.A.), 50 Nanking Read
Brandt & Rodgers, Ltd, 391 Kiangse Road
Cathay Land Co.. Ltd, Sassoon House
China Realty Co. (Fed. Inc., U.S.A.), 290 Szechuen Road
Credit Foncier d'Extreme Orient, 18 The Bund
Cumine & Co., Ltd, 149 Szechuen Road
Fonciere et Immobiliere de Chine, 9 Ave. Edward VII
Metropolitan Land Co., Ltd, 81 Jinkee Road
Nissim, N. Fred, 78 Kiangse Road
Realty Investment Co. (Fed. Inc., U.S.A.), 210 Szechuen Road
Shanghai Land Investment Co., Ltd., 100 Jinkee Road
unless otherwise indicated
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