节点城市与近代侨汇

Node City and Overseas Chinese Remittances in Modern Times

近代时期,北美华工和华侨向中国的汇款构成近代侨汇的半数,其对于近代中国经济发展的作用举足轻重。由于近代中国官方经营机构的缺位,早期侨汇的运营主要依赖华商个人和相关私营企业完成,表现为"水客"、侨批局和"金山庄"的经营,其侨汇经营带有强烈的逐利动机。近代后期,北美华侨华人又创造性地发展出"仄纸侨汇"的运送方式,通过遍及各地的"金山庄"、银号和钱庄,以香港为中心节点,在中国境内流通、境外兑付,这在外币汇兑方面最大限度地保护了华侨与侨眷的利益,受到海外华侨及侨乡眷属的广泛欢迎。然而,侨汇在这样的情况下进出中国,脱离了政府的金融管制,客观上损害了政府的利益,使得清末以来的近代中国政府流失大量外汇,造成政府财政支出的困难和沿海及侨乡地区货币流通的乱局,这也是近代私人侨汇业发展所造成的负面影响之一。

In modern Chinese history, overseas remittance played an extremely important role to the economy of China, especially to its southern region. Overseas remittance from North American Chinese laborers and expatriates had contributed half of the total remittances to China's Mainland in modern history. Thus, it played an important role in modern Chinese economy, consisting of one of the major sources of foreign exchange of Guangdong province and even the whole nation. Due to the absence of official Chinese institutes, the operation of overseas remittance in North America relied mainly on individual Chinese entrepreneurs and private enterprises and manifested in the business of runners（parallel goods traders）, Pichu（overseas mailing agencies）, and Gold Mountain trading firms, whose remittance business was strongly profit-driven. In more recent history, overseas Chinese in North America creatively developed the method of remittance via bank draft. With the accessibility of Gold Mountain trading firms and private banks in numerous places, and Hong Kong as the center of circulation, the draft could be circulated domestically and cashed overseas. This method of foreign exchange protected the interests of overseas Chinese and their families to the maximum and was very popular. However, overseas remittances circulated in China by way of private business or similar cases evaded the government＇s financial regulation and obviously undermined the government＇s interest. The Chinese government since the late Qing Dynasty had lost a lot of foreign exchange, which led to its financial crisis and chaotic currency circulation in coastal areas and hometowns of overseas Chinese. These were the side effects brought by private remittances in modern Chinese history.