What is history: it is the echo of the past to the future, the reflection of the future on the past. - Hugo
The Western affairs movement is the beginning of China's modernization and a symbol of China's initiative to go to the world, although it has the nature of self-help of the landlord class and does not seem to promote the development of modern China.
But it is also a glorious stroke in the history of our country, more than a hundred years have passed, with the ups and downs of the times, many things have been lost in the long river of history, a hundred years later, the foreign affairs sports company.
How many are left, and what is the current situation? It is gratifying that the remaining foreign affairs sports companies are standing on the list of the world's top 500 companies.
Famous figures and enterprises in the Western affairs movement
Speaking of the western affairs movement, we must mention those landlord classes--- the court yi bi, Li Hongzhang, Zeng Guofan, Zhang Zhidong, and Zuo Zongtang.
They are all famous courtiers of the late Qing Dynasty, holding a certain degree of power and status, and have appeal in a certain region, and foreign companies, under their efforts, have sprung up on the land of China.
Li Hongzhang, a controversial figure in history, some people say that he joined forces with the great powers, destroyed China, and together with Weng Tonggong, was ridiculed as "the prime minister of Hefei is thin in the world"; but he launched the foreign affairs movement and made a lot of contributions to the industrialization and modernization of our country.
Zeng Guofan, most famously the Xiang Army, quelled the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement. However, the result of the "Tianjin Teaching Plan" was not supported by the people, and he finally regrettably withdrew from the foreign affairs movement.
In the early stage of the foreign affairs movement, we still saw that the landlord class longed for the rise of the imperial court again, and all the officials were very active in it, but things always developed in the movement.
The Western affairs movement exposed the corruption of the Qing government bureaucracy, such as the embezzlement of public funds by officials in the later period, the purchase of machines in pursuit of cheap rather than fine... However, there is also a good side, which invisibly promotes the modernization of our country.
This huge profit attracted the attention of the people, some of whom set up their own companies, which were historically called "national bourgeoisie".
Some pleaded with the government to open up the door and obtain certain fame and fortune and advanced production machines at the same time. As a result, we see that in the later period of the Western affairs movement, most of the companies were established under the slogan of "seeking wealth".
The Qing government did not adhere to the policy of "emphasizing agriculture and suppressing business", but welcomed private businessmen to join. Apparently, after several land cuts and indemnities, the Qing court at that time had no money and had to seek external support.
From another point of view, we are pleased to find that with the integration of non-governmental forces, the "foreign affairs movement" has once again regained its life. And, growing stronger, moving in that impossible direction--- the World's Top 500, of course, this is also the story that followed.
On the positive side, the "much-maligned" foreign affairs movement has created many "firsts", the first large-scale modern military enterprise, the Jiangnan General Manufacturing Bureau, the first Chinese national shipping company, the Steamship Merchants Bureau, and the first coal mining company, --- Kaiping Coal Mine.
Before the Sino-Japanese War, it was not unreasonable for foreigners to predict that China would win. But, to the surprise of the whole world, a small vassal state defeated the largest country in the Far East.
Thus began the frenzy of "dividing up the cake", and at the same time, many foreign enterprises disappeared in the long river of history after the war.
The world's top 500 enterprises --- steamship merchants bureau
Steamship Investment Bureau, investment promotion, can be seen as the finished product of the late stage of the foreign affairs movement. It is a company promoted by Li Hongzhang, mainly engaged in the relevant steamship transportation industry, jointly run by officials and businessmen, and the merchants are responsible for their own profits and losses.
Its achievements in modern times are also considerable, it set up China's first telephone line, signed a contract with the foreign bank at that time, successfully broke the pattern of foreigners monopolizing China's industry, and at the same time built a school, which is now Xi'an Jiaotong University, to fund the construction of the Kaiping Coal Mine.
At that time, the Qing government sent a businessman Tang Yanshu, who, with many years of experience in compradoring, raised the banner of establishing an industry, shocked the foreigners, and announced to the world what is the "backbone of China."
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Steamship China Merchants Bureau was reorganized many times, and was valued by the relevant departments, and even mentioned a very high status, which later became the "China Merchants Group", which is a first-class enterprise directly under the Ministry of Communications.
The "China Merchants Bank" that we are familiar with is an attempt to operate outside the China Merchants system.
Ping An Insurance Headquarters of China, now located in Shenzhen, is another "subsidiary" of China Merchants, it is the first joint-stock insurance enterprise since China's reform and opening up, adhering to the spirit of the steamship China Merchants Bureau, leading the small fishing village on the south coast - Shenzhen, watching it become an international metropolis, a super first-tier city, it itself has also rushed to the list of the world's top 500.
"China Merchants Group" has now evolved from the steamship industry to finance, transportation and urban parks, which can be described as all-encompassing. It has gradually grown and become one of the world's top 500 companies.
The past and present lives of Wuhan Iron and Steel and Baosteel
Compared with the steamship China Merchants Bureau, the fate of Hanyang Iron Works is a bit of ups and downs. However, as the former asia's first steel company, it is very representative.
Friends living in Wuhan may be very familiar, careful observation found that the wuhan railways that are still in use, some of them were produced by Hanyang Iron Works a hundred years ago, that is to say, the quality of Hanyang Iron Works is really good.
At that time, the Hanyang Iron Works hired 14 Luxembourg experts and borrowed money from Germany and Japan. The highest peak output value, the annual production of about 80,000 tons of iron, 40,000 tons of steel bars, more than 20,000 tons of rail.
However, the Hanyang Iron Works is located in the strategic center of Wuhan, and it is difficult to escape the invasion of war. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, some of the important smelting equipment of the Hanyang Iron Works was moved to Chongqing, and the original site was ruthlessly destroyed by the Japanese army, leaving only a framework.
In 1958, a group of aspiring young people abandoned the location of Zhang Zhidong and built a new Wuhan Iron and Steel Company.
Adhering to the spirit of Hanyang Iron Works, it integrates excellence and patriotism into smelting again and again, when people riding on the slogan of "large-scale steel smelting" and mobilizing the strength of the whole people to revitalize and build for the country.
With the in-depth development of national construction, the industrialization of adjacent raw materials can not meet the needs of the market, the waste of resources is obvious, China urgently needs to carry out an industrial transfer, coordination and optimization and upgrading, so people set their sights on Shanghai Baosteel Company located on the coast of the East China Sea.
We know that Shanghai is dominated by the tertiary industry and does not have too many natural resources, while its status as a coastal, financial and commercial center attracts foreign high-quality resources and can achieve complementarity.
As a result, the "Hanyang Iron Works" in the new era appeared, and with the division of labor of "dual headquarters", it once again composed the music of a century-old enterprise and became one of the world's top 500 companies.
Time is like an arrow, the sun and the moon are like shuttles, and in the past hundred years of ups and downs, China has grown from a backward agricultural country to a powerful country. In this century of wind and frost, the foreign enterprises that can still stand firm are like a beacon in the port, guiding the country forward.