The first government-supervised commercial enterprise established in the late Qing Dynasty in China. In the 1870s, under the impact of foreign shipping forces, China's old shipping industry, which transported grain and supplies from north to south, was severely damaged. In January 1873, under the auspices of Li Hongzhang, a steamship investment promotion bureau run by government officials and merchants was established in Shanghai, borrowing government funds to make 200,000 strings of money, and inviting investors to raise shares. Xu Run, a foreign comprador and an industrial and commercial activist, and Tang Tingshu, a foreign comprador and Westernization entrepreneur, successively participated in the investment promotion bureau and contributed to shareholding and management. China Merchants Group is headquartered in Shanghai and has branches in major ports in China and in Nagasaki, Yokohama, Kobe and Singapore in Japan. Due to obstruction by foreign forces, it only operated the North-South Ocean route and the Yangtze River route at that time, and foreign routes were not open to navigation. In 1877, China Merchants purchased all the old ships and other equipment of the American Qichang Steamship Company for 2.2 million silver taels. It had 25 ships and a transportation capacity of 27,000 tons, which was quite profitable. In 1883, the initial capital was 2 million taels. In 1897, China Merchants Capital increased its capital to 4 million taels by converting its surplus over the years. In 1909, it was changed to a commercial operation and a board of directors was established. In 1911, there were 29 ships with a transport capacity of 49,000 tons. After the Revolution of 1911, the board of directors of the bureau was reorganized several times, but there was no improvement in operations. Only during the First World War, the company made more profits. In 1924, it was changed to a joint-stock company. In 1930, the Kuomintang government took it under state ownership. After being placed under the Ministry of Transport in 1932, transportation dropped to more than 50,000 tons; real estate investment continued to increase, accounting for about 80% of total assets. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, China Merchants Group took over 332 enemy and puppet ships, purchased 106 foreign ships, and invested in other shipping companies. In August 1948, the Kuomintang government reorganized China Merchants into a joint-stock company and sold China Merchants shares with half of its share capital. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, China Merchants' property in the mainland was taken over by the People's Government. All China Merchants' employees and 13 ships who moved to Hong Kong declared an uprising in Hong Kong on January 13, 1950, and continued to operate and have achievements. develop.

Introducing the history of China Merchants Group, we also need to mention Taiwan Yang Ming Shipping Company, because the predecessor of Yang Ming Shipping Company was China Merchants Group. China Merchants is the first shipping company in China. It was founded in 1872 during the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty. It is a history of the modern development of Chinese shipping and has also witnessed the modern history of China. During the Sino-Japanese War, it was the largest shipping company in the country, so whether it was It supports military transportation and even sinks ships in the river for strategic needs on the battlefield to block Japanese attacks and allow the national army to gain more time to retreat, which is a great contribution to the country.

Later, as the Chinese Kuomintang government retreated to Taiwan, the mainland and Taiwan authorities respectively resumed operations of China Merchants. China Merchants is still the largest shipping company in Taiwan and is highly valued by the Taiwan authorities. In 1972, which happened to be the 100th anniversary of China Merchants Group, Yangming Shipping Company was established to specialize in international shipping business.

China Merchants Bureau in Taiwan

The founder of China Merchants Bureau was Li Hongzhang, the Minister of Commerce and Industry of the Qing Dynasty. In view of the failure of foreign wars in the late Qing Dynasty and the loss of navigation rights, both coastal and inland navigation rights were Foreign ships were controlled by foreign shipping forces, and domestic small ships could not compete with them. In order to prevent the transportation lifeline from being monopolized by outsiders, a memorial was submitted to the Empress Dowager Cixi and proposed the establishment of a steamship company, hence the name China Merchants. The memorial on display is the memorial submitted by Li Hongzhang that year. From the memorial, it can be seen that the queen mother's position is higher than that of the emperor. This also witnesses the history of Empress Dowager Cixi's rise to power in modern Chinese history. The memorial originally existed on the mainland. The gold medal in the display case was a miniature copy of the original presented to Yangming by the Mainland China Investment Promotion Bureau.

The history of China Merchants Group can be divided into several periods. In the early days of coming to Taiwan, due to the special status of China Merchants Group, although it was affiliated to the Ministry of Communications, in fact, the chairman and general manager of China Merchants Group were all senior officials. The authorities agreed to the appointment. However, after the establishment of Yang Ming Shipping, only the management office gradually remained. In 1995, in compliance with the resolution of the Legislative Yuan, it was merged into Yang Ming Shipping Company.

Mainland China Merchants Group still has its operating headquarters in Hong Kong and has become a large-scale enterprise group with finance, construction, transportation, shipbuilding, terminals, etc.

Yang Ming Shipping Co., Ltd. was established on December 28, 1972. As of the end of May 2010, Yang Ming Marine had 80 operating ships with a carrying capacity of 4.1 million deadweight tons/321,000 TEUS. The fleet includes container ships, bulk ships, and Taipower Coal Carriers on behalf of the company. Since the establishment of Yang Ming Marine, employees around the world have adhered to the business philosophy of "team, innovation, integrity, and pragmatism", constantly innovated and sought changes, worked together, and overcome difficulties, not only providing excellent quality products based on the four principles of "accuracy, speed, stability, and economy" services, becoming one of the world's leading shipping companies, and one of the youngest companies in the world with an average ship age.