Judging from the history of China, the first economic measure after the unification of each emerging dynasty was currency unification. From the point of view of modern government, monetary unification is the premise of its independent unification and the primary condition for regulating the economy. Before and after the founding of the People's Republic of China, under what conditions and in what way did the Party and the people's government realize currency unification, which should be one of the important topics in the study of China people's national history. Unfortunately, the research in this field is not enough and needs to be further deepened. This paper attempts to do some preliminary discussion on this in order to attract more attention. [ 1]
First, the currency chaos in old China.
After the Opium War, due to imperialist aggression and feudal forces, China's modernization road was very bumpy. Judging from the currency issuance and circulation to measure the degree of national independence and unity, before 1949, China was still in a chaotic state of division and backwardness and extremely unbalanced political and economic development.
Since the late Qing Dynasty, with the invasion of imperialism and the disintegration of feudal politics, China's monetary system began to fall into chaos. Before 1935, the currency reform of the Kuomintang government, many local banks (mainly provincial banks), foreign banks and private banks also issued banknotes circulating in the market (excluding the currency issued by the revolutionary base areas and the puppet Manchurian and Mongolian regimes). As far as the silver dollar is concerned, there are Angelababy (named after the eagle pattern above, also known as "Moyang"), Yang Long (named after the dragon pattern above, cast by the Qing government), Datou Yinyang (also known as "Yuan Datou", with Yuan Shikai's head on it, cast by Beiyang government), Chuanyang (named after the sailing pattern above, cast by Nanjing Kuomintang government) and Britain. If you count all kinds of low-quality silver coins minted by local governments, there are dozens of them.
1935 The currency reform of the Kuomintang government tried to end the chaotic situation, realize the currency unification, and make China's currency embark on the modern system. However, Japan's full-scale war of aggression against China, which broke out soon, not only failed to unify the currency of the Kuomintang, but also the issuance of legal tender (paper money) made it possible for the Kuomintang government to implement the inflation policy. From June 1936 to May 1949, the currency issued by the Kuomintang government increased by more than144.5 billion times. Severe inflation will inevitably lead to soaring prices. For example, in June of 1937, the national legal tender circulation was141million yuan. At this time, if a person has 654,380.2 billion yuan of legal tender (equivalent to silver dollars at the exchange rate), this money is almost equal to the total amount of money issued by the Kuomintang government; However, by 1942, it became 600 million yuan (paper money issued by the puppet regime of Wang forced people to exchange it at the price of 1: 2), and by 1945, it became 3 million yuan (after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the Kuomintang government held paper money in the occupied areas at a ratio of 200: 0, and by/kloc) When the Kuomintang government carried out the second currency reform (replacing legal tender with gold certificates at the price of 1: 3 million yuan), it only became1yuan gold certificates, and 5 liters of rice could be bought at the current price; From August of 1948 to May of 1949, the price increased by 644 1326 times, and the purchasing power of 1 yuan gold coupon was only 0.00000 155 yuan compared with nine months ago. At this time, even a grain of rice could not be bought, and the price of a grain of rice became 65435. [2]
Such violent inflation will inevitably lead to the abandonment of this kind of paper money. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, although the Kuomintang government carried out currency reform, banned the circulation of gold, silver and foreign currencies, and forced people to change into banknotes issued by the Kuomintang government, it could not prevent the widespread circulation of gold, silver and foreign currencies. In cities, gold, silver and foreign currencies have actually replaced gold and silver coupons as equivalents in the market; In rural areas, due to the shortage of hard currency such as silver dollars and copper coins, barter accounts for an increasing proportion in market circulation, and grain and cloth have become market exchange equivalents in many places.
Severe inflation has also opened the door for foreign currencies to occupy our market. In addition to US dollar bills and Hong Kong dollars, there are various foreign currencies circulating in the market, such as British pound, French franc, Singaporean currency, Vietnamese currency, Portuguese currency, Indian Rupee currency and Myanmar currency. In addition to the Soviet Union and Northeast Asian countries, the currencies of almost neighboring countries and countries with more overseas Chinese have been put into use in China market circulation. It is estimated that on the eve of national liberation in 1949, there were about 300 million US dollars and 580 million Hong Kong dollars circulating in China. Half of the circulation of Hong Kong dollars has flowed into South China.
Two, the birth of the RMB and the gradual unification of the currency in the customs liberated areas.
1, RMB background.
1In July, 947, the People's Liberation Army turned to a strategic counterattack, which was a historic turning point in China's revolution, and national victory was not far off. With the China Revolution turning into a strategic offensive, Shanxi-Suiyuan, Shanxi-Chaji, Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan and Shandong Liberated Areas gradually became one. In order to meet the needs of the development of the revolutionary situation, under the leadership of the Central Committee, the work of establishing a "central bank to issue a unified currency" has been put on the agenda. 1947 10 10 On 8 October, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China pointed out in his reply to the report of the North China Finance and Economics Office: "At present, the time for establishing a unified bank is a bit premature, so it is necessary to make preparations. As for the name of the bank, the People's Bank of China can do it. " 1947165438+10, North China Finance Office confirmed that Nan was responsible for organizing the preparatory office of the People's Bank of China. After a year of research, negotiation and preparation, the People's Bank of China was announced to be established in Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province (formed by the merger of the former North China Bank, Beihai Bank and Northwest Farmers Bank) on February 0, 1948, and the banknotes of the People's Bank of China were issued from now on. At that time, it was decided that the task of issuing RMB was to unify the currency of the liberated areas and at the same time serve as the functional currency of new China. The issuance policy of RMB is "moderately stable". In other words, according to the situation of production and commodity circulation in various regions and the tightness of market currency, RMB should be put into the market in a planned and step-by-step manner.
2. The gradual unification of the currency in the liberated areas in the pass.
After the establishment of the People's Bank of China and the issuance of RMB, the currency in the Liberated Area of Guannei was unified immediately. 1948 12 1 Announcement of the People's Government of North China on the Establishment of the People's Bank of China and the Issuance of Renminbi states: "From this year 1 February1day, the paper money of the People's Bank of China (hereinafter referred to as new money) will be issued as the standard for unified circulation in North China, East China and Northwest China. All public and private payments and all transactions are made in the new currency against the standard currency. After the new coins are issued, the Ji coins (including Luxi coins), border coins (Jinchaji), Beihai coins and Xinong coins (hereinafter referred to as old coins) will be gradually recovered. " [3]
In order not to make the people's interests suffer losses in the process of currency unification, the people's government adopted the policy of "fixing the exchange rate, mixing circulation, gradually recovering and being responsible to the end", and gradually recovered the currency issued in the liberated areas in a planned and step-by-step manner. There are two main ways to unify:
(1) Fixed price, mixed circulation. 1948 When RMB was issued in February, the People's Government of North China, according to the price level in the Liberated Area, set a reasonable price ratio between RMB and Hebei hard currency, Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei border currency, Beihai currency and Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia commercial circulation notes, stopped issuing the currencies in the above areas, and asked local banks to gradually recover the above currencies according to the stipulated price ratio. Around the liberation of Tianjin, the People's Government of North China once again announced the fixed exchange rate of RMB against the currencies in the liberated areas (some reiterated, some new regulations). For example, Zhongzhou currency is1:3; The currency of Jinan, Beihai and Central China is1:100; For Great Wall bank notes, it is1200; Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei border currency and Jehol bank voucher are1:1000; Xinong Coin and Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Commercial Circulation Voucher are1:2000; Jire Liaobian currency 1: 5000. These parity rates are basically consistent with the natural parity rates formed in the market circulation at that time.
By adopting the transitional mode of fixed price and mixed circulation, the cut-off economic relations between regions can be quickly restored and developed, which not only facilitates the exchange and circulation of the masses, but also does not cause market shocks. However, this method is flexible. During the Battle of Peiping and Tianjin, the People's Liberation Army of China, in order to meet the needs of standing by, once stipulated that the Northeast Bank Notes and the currency of southern Hebei should be temporarily allowed to circulate in Peiping and Tianjin as the auxiliary currency of RMB, while the currencies of other liberated areas were not allowed to circulate in the city. After the victory of the Battle of Ping Jin, the People's Government of North China announced on April 1949 and 15 that it would stop the circulation of Northeast bank notes and Jinan coins in Ping Jin and Tianjin and redeem them within a time limit. At the same time, the People's Government of North China and the People's Government of Northeast China set up a joint office in Shanhaiguan to exchange the currencies of North China and Northeast China to facilitate exchanges between the two places.
(2) Recover all the currency in the Liberated Area at the stipulated exchange rate. In order to dispel some people's doubts that the currency issued by the People's Bank of China will stop being exchanged after the expiration of the exchange period, Nan Zai, general manager of the People's Bank of, delivered a speech at 10/0/0, promising: "The people's government is not only responsible for the new currency issued by the People's Bank of China, but also for all local currencies issued by the banks in the Liberated Areas in the past. In the future, when we collect local currency, we must exchange it at the current price until the last one. " [4] Subsequently, the People's Bank of China made many arrangements for the currency exchange in the Liberated Areas, stipulating that the holders of the currency in the Liberated Areas can still exchange at the People's Bank at the original exchange rate after the expiration of the exchange period. In the future, the people's government was not only responsible for recovering the currency issued in the liberated areas during War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the War of Liberation, but also for recovering the currency, promissory notes and government bonds issued by the base banks during the Agrarian Revolution at a reasonable price.
By the eve of the founding of New China, the people's government had successively recovered the currency issued by the Liberated Areas in Shanhaiguan by means of banking, financial collection and trade return, and the currencies in most parts of North China, Northwest China, East China and South Central China were unified into RMB, which laid a solid foundation for the currency unification of New China.
3. Exchange and eliminate the currency issued by the Kuomintang regime.
Long before the issuance of RMB, the liberated areas had an effective currency struggle with the banknotes issued by the Kuomintang government. 1947 summer and autumn to Shenyang before liberation 1948+0 1 During the strategic counter-offensive, the currency struggle against the enemy in the liberated areas was mainly manifested in crowding out Chiang Kai-shek coins, that is, banning the circulation of Chiang Kai-shek coins within a time limit, and organizing forces to push Chiang Kai-shek coins into Kuomintang-controlled areas in exchange for materials.
1949 1 After the liberation of Peiping and Tianjin, Chiang Kai-shek's currency was mainly exchanged, supplemented by crowding out. 1949 65438+ 10/After the liberation of Tianjin, the Municipal Military Commission issued a notice on 1 6, stipulating that from now on, the gold coin can be circulated for 10 days, during which the exchange rate of RMB against the gold coin is1:. On February 2, Beiping Military Management Committee also issued a notice stipulating that from now on, gold coupons can be circulated for 20 days. During this period, people have the freedom to refuse to use gold coupons and negotiate price comparisons. The government's exchange rate is 1: 10, but working people can exchange 500 yuan's gold certificates with the preferential exchange rate of 1:3. In order to do a good job in the collection and exchange, the People's Bank of Beiping has set up 247 exchange points in the city and organized more than 5,000 people to do the collection and exchange work. As a result, it took only 18 days to successfully complete the redemption work, and * * * received more than 800 million yuan in gold and silver certificates. During the exchange period, the people's government prepared a large amount of grain, cooking oil, coal and other materials, which were continuously transported into Tianjin and Beiping, so that the broad masses of people could buy daily necessities with the exchanged RMB, which not only established the credibility of the RMB, but also stabilized people's lives. At the same time, the people's government also adopted the method of squeezing out gold certificates from the liberated areas. According to the regulations of Tianjin Municipal People's Government, anyone who holds a gold certificate of less than 654.38+10,000 yuan may apply to the People's Bank of China for registration and issue a certificate of carrying the gold certificate, which can be taken to the Kuomintang-controlled area; At the same time, the restrictions on materials entering the liberated areas were relaxed, and people were encouraged to transport them to the Kuomintang-controlled areas with gold and silver coupons in exchange for materials.
With the rapid depreciation of gold and silver coupons, the people's government has also lowered the exchange rate of the newly liberated areas, and the redemption period is getting shorter and shorter, generally not exceeding 10 days. After the liberation of Nanjing on April 23rd, the exchange rate was 1: 2500, and the term was 10 days. On May 27th, Shanghai was liberated. In view of the collapse of the Kuomintang government, the people's government adopted an unrestricted and undifferentiated exchange policy, stipulating that the exchange rate between RMB and gold coupons was 1: 10000, and set up 369 exchange points in the whole city. It took only seven days to complete the exchange work, and the exchange of gold coupons was 36 trillion yuan, accounting for 50 trillion yuan of the total issued by the Kuomintang government.
1In July, 949, the fleeing Kuomintang government issued "silver dollar coupons" in Guangzhou and Chongqing in an attempt to plunder the wealth of the mainland people with paper money for the last time. In this regard, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China announced in the name of the China People's Liberation Army that in the new liberated areas, the silver dollar coupons will be invalid and will not be exchanged; He also called on the people in the Kuomintang-controlled areas to unite and refused to use the silver dollar coupon, thus accelerating the collapse of the silver dollar coupon. However, after the liberation of South China and Southwest China, in order to reduce people's losses, the people's government still redeemed the silver dollar coupons within a time limit. For example, after the liberation of Chongqing, the Military Commission announced that the exchange rate of 100 yuan silver dollar coupons was 1 yuan, and it took only 10 days to complete the exchange. * * * Silver dollar coupon 1.0 1.7 million yuan, equivalent to RMB 1.0 1.7 million yuan. [5]
1949 after the PLA successfully crossed the river in April, the war of liberation changed the previous method of liberating villages first and then occupying cities. But with the rapid advancement of the People's Liberation Army, it occupied the dominant cities first. At this time, the vast rural areas in the south of the Yangtze River hated the hyperinflation of the Kuomintang government, and banknotes such as gold and silver coupons were basically rejected and replaced by silver, copper and even barter. Therefore, after the liberation of Jiangnan, it is only a question of how to occupy the RMB for rural areas.
Four, prohibit the circulation of gold and silver pricing and private transactions.
1, the circulation of gold and silver pricing and its reasons.
Before the founding of New China, due to the hyperinflation policy implemented by the Kuomintang government, in the late period of the Liberation War, the credibility of banknotes such as legal tender and gold certificates issued by the Kuomintang plummeted, and hard currencies such as gold and silver returned to the circulation field, especially the silver dollar, which was widely circulated and stored by the people in the past, became the main currency in the market again, and the demand was increasing. Since the silver dollar gradually became the main means of circulation from 1948, its price has been rising, often faster than that of ordinary commodities. Take Shanghai as an example: from June 65438 to June 65438, 0949, the wholesale price rose by 78307 times, the silver dollar rose by 1 1297 1 times, the gold rose by 60682 times and the US dollar bill rose by 80553 times. As far as the whole country is concerned, the price of silver dollar is two to three times its own value, which is unprecedented in the history of old China. Before the Anti-Japanese War, one or two gold can be exchanged for 1 10 silver, while 1949 can only be exchanged for 30 to 40 silver in May.
1949 after the liberation of major cities, due to the ongoing war of liberation, the people's government could not make ends meet and had to gradually expand the RMB. At the end of April, the total amount of RMB issued 1949 was 60.7 billion yuan, reached 280 billion yuan at the end of July, and reached 200 billion yuan 165438 in October. Although the circulation of RMB is expanding, inflation is still inevitable. From 1949 to February 1,1950 (prices fell in March after unified finance and economics), the wholesale price index of national 13 big cities increased by 91.10/times. From February 1949 to February 1950 in Tianjin, the prices of five commodities, such as flour, millet, wheat, 20 pieces of yarn and fine white cloth, rose by 103.7 times. Because of the instability of RMB value and people's distrust of paper money caused by old China, people are still willing to use and preserve hard currency such as gold and silver. At the same time, the long-term hyperinflation of the Kuomintang government has also caused huge financial speculative forces, that is, the so-called "agriculture is not as good as industry, industry is not as good as business, business is not as good as storage, and storage is not as good as gold". It is estimated that in 1948, the number of people involved in financial speculation in Shanghai alone reached more than 500,000 (mainly buying and selling gold and silver, commonly known as "scalpers" and silver dollar dealers). On the streets of Beiping City, at the beginning of the liberation of major cities, as we all know, these financial speculative forces were still very active. Therefore, the main opponent of the RMB is not the currency issued by the Kuomintang, but the gold and silver dollar bills, especially the silver dollar.
2. Prohibit the pricing and circulation of gold and silver, and severely crack down on silver dollar speculation.
In order to effectively stop financial speculation, the RMB will drive out gold and silver as soon as possible and occupy the market, and at the same time, it will not cause excessive issuance of RMB. The people's government has adopted a freezing policy of prohibiting the circulation of gold and silver and low-price exchange.
In order to stop financial speculation and stabilize prices, local people's governments immediately organized administrative forces and the masses to severely investigate and deal with gold and silver speculation after issuing laws prohibiting private buying and selling of gold and silver. 1On March 4th, 949, Beiping Military Management Committee searched the black market of silver dollar and arrested 380 silver dollar dealers in three days. The biggest contest between RMB and silver dollar took place in East China after the liberation of Jiangnan. Long before the People's Liberation Army crossed the river, East China, with Nanjing, Shanghai and Hangzhou as its center of gravity, had become the world of silver dollars, and gold and silver coupons actually became the auxiliary coins of silver dollars. After the liberation of the south of the Yangtze River, gold and silver coupons "failed to fall", and the silver dollar, which has occupied the market for a long time, became the main enemy of RMB.
1949 at the beginning of June, with Shanghai as the center, financial speculators set off a wave of silver dollar rise. Speculators in Shanghai, based in the securities building, use the telephone network to contact all the strongholds in the city, quote market prices and drive up prices. From June 1 to June 10, the price of silver dollar tripled, which led to the price increase. In this case, the Shanghai Municipal People's Government promulgated the Interim Measures for the Administration of Gold and Silver in East China on June 10, and took immediate action according to the Central Committee's "Instructions on Combating Silver Dollars to Make RMB Occupy Market Positions". At the peak of speculators' concentrated activities, the securities building was sealed up in one fell swoop, and more than 0/000 speculators were seized and arrested. Around this time, the people's government also carried out extensive publicity and education, mobilized the people to denounce silver dollar speculation, resolutely refused to use silver dollars, and banned black market trading of silver dollars in streets and alleys. Finally, the RMB completely occupied the market. Subsequently, Nanjing, Wuhan, Hangzhou and other big cities also launched a struggle against the silver dollar and won. In the same year, on February 5, 65438, the Guangzhou Municipal People's Government organized more than 2,000 people to conduct a major inspection of underground money houses and lots where stalls selling gold, silver and foreign currency (locally known as "razor lintels") were concentrated, and seized 498 underground money houses 170 and "razor lintels".
The local people's government not only solved the problem of prohibiting the sale of silver dollars and the pricing and circulation of gold and silver, but also adopted the method of listing gold and silver by the People's Bank of China. Because there are a lot of gold and silver in society, in order not to increase the RMB in the market and aggravate inflation due to exchange, the people's government has implemented a low-price freezing policy (after the liberation of Southwest China, the people's government temporarily refused to accept gold and silver to avoid impacting the market), that is, the exchange rate of the People's Bank of China is far lower than the black market price, which makes the rich unwilling to exchange their gold and silver for RMB and willing to keep it. However, this low price is not unreasonably low. At the same time, considering the interests of the exchange, the exchange rate has also been raised several times with the price increase. By the end of 1949, Shanghai had collected more than 220,000 taels from1080,000 taels, and Beijing had collected more than 220,000 taels. After the price of 1950 stabilized in March, the state raised the exchange rate of gold and silver appropriately, the value of RMB stabilized, and the amount of gold and silver received by the state increased greatly. Take Guangdong Province as an example. 1950, * * * received 7.455 million taels of gold (including 7 1. 1.0% in the second half of the year), cashier1kloc-0/.22 million taels (including 73.7% in the second half of the year) and pure silver 5323. [6]
3. Promote RMB to the countryside and occupy the rural market.
Due to the drastic inflation policy of the Kuomintang government, paper money depreciated rapidly, and the rural resistance measures were to refuse to use paper money and use hard currency such as silver dollar in market exchange or barter, which made grain and cloth become universal equivalents in many areas. 1949 Before the People's Liberation Army crossed the river in April, the war of liberation was to liberate the countryside and surround the city first, and then liberate the city. Therefore, in terms of finance and trade, the RMB first takes root in the countryside. Once the city is liberated and the RMB occupies the market, it is relatively easy to resume urban-rural exchanges. Cross the river, the situation is different. Because we occupy cities first and then rural areas, both cities and rural areas are silver dollar markets, and rural areas cannot help cities promote RMB, but it is also very difficult to promote RMB itself. Even in the old liberated areas in the north, due to the depreciation of the RMB, the proportion of physical exchange in rural areas is also very large. If we say that after the liberation of the city, the people's government quickly and effectively banned the circulation of gold and silver by administrative means, so that the RMB quickly occupied the market; Therefore, for the vast rural areas in the new area, it is the best choice to let RMB occupy and expand the market mainly through economic means, because the implementation cost of administrative orders is not only too high, but also will lead to an increase in the proportion of physical exchange. The effective implementation of economic means is based on the basic stability of RMB value. Therefore, the measures taken by the people's government to promote the renminbi to the countryside, the renminbi really penetrated into the vast rural areas and occupied the rural market were after the unification of finance and economics in March 1950. There are three main economic measures taken by the government to promote RMB to the countryside: first, taxation, that is, all taxes and fees collected by the government in rural areas except public grain are collected in RMB to promote the circulation of RMB; Second, through agricultural loans and bills of exchange (inter-port bills and import and export bills), RMB goes deep into rural areas; Third, by vigorously carrying out the exchange of materials between urban and rural areas, that is, encouraging industrial products to go to the countryside, purchasing a large number of agricultural and sideline products, replacing silver dollars with RMB, and occupying the rural market with physical exchange. After 1950 to 195 1 year, the silver dollar basically withdrew from the market, the proportion of barter was greatly reduced, and the RMB finally went deep into the countryside. According to individual surveys, before the financial unification in March 1950, RMB had not occupied the rural areas in the newly liberated areas, and its circulation in the rural areas in the old liberated areas was also very limited. By the end of 1952, it was estimated by the head office of the People's Bank of China that the RMB held by farmers had reached 1 1 trillion yuan, accounting for 40.4% of the total RMB circulation at that time. [7]
4. Carry out the policy of patient and steady progress in minority areas. For ethnic minority areas, the central government and the people's government have adopted completely different policies, fully taking care of the interests and habits of ethnic minorities.
1950, both the northwest and southwest decided to take care of the psychology and habits formed by ethnic minorities for a long time, temporarily use silver dollars, and then gradually use RMB for exchange when conditions permit. For example, in August of the same year, the Northwest Military and Political Committee formulated the Measures for the Administration of Silver Dollars (approved by the Finance Committee of China), which stipulated that (1) most of Gansu, Ningxia and parts of Qinghai should continue to resolutely implement the established policy of prohibiting the circulation of silver dollars. Only in Labrang, Gansu, Alashan, Ningxia and Southwest Qinghai, where ethnic minorities live in concentrated communities, are silver dollars and RMB allowed to circulate at the same time temporarily, and then the RMB market will be gradually expanded based on the economy. (2) In areas where the circulation of silver dollars is temporarily allowed, in order to strengthen the unified control and management of silver dollars by the government, we can consider setting up a "money exchange" led by the People's Bank of China (involving local prestigious people) to conduct centralized and free transactions according to the market prices of local silver dollars and RMB, so as to solve the difficulties of mutual needs of RMB or silver dollar holders. If there is a shortage of silver dollars in this area, only the People's Bank of China is allowed to transfer silver dollars to this area in a planned way, and other public and private units are not allowed to take them at will. (3) state-owned trading companies and other state-owned enterprises (postal services, transportation, etc.). ) and the tax authorities in areas that temporarily allow the free circulation of silver dollars are prohibited from accepting silver dollars to support the steady expansion of the circulation scope of RMB; However, state-owned trading companies can use silver dollars when purchasing local products, depending on the specific situation. (4) State-owned trading companies and the People's Bank of China must try their best to expand their business, so as to promote RMB going to the countryside, organize economic forces, and weaken the market base for the circulation of silver dollars. (5) The anti-smuggling work of silver dollar should be strengthened in the border area between the temporary circulation area and the forbidden circulation area. [8]
At the beginning of 1953, the price of silver dollar in southwest minority areas (excluding Tibet) fell, the currency value was unstable, and the circulation scope of RMB began to expand. In this case, the people's government can choose the following two ways: first, continue to curb the decline in the price of silver dollar by adopting the adopted methods, and then collect it at one time or just collect it, so as to put an end to the circulation of silver; Second, on the current basis, we should stabilize the currency market by stabilizing the exchange rate between RMB and silver dollar, and exchange materials, so that ethnic minorities can gradually change their psychology of loving currency and establish the prestige of RMB. Only when the conditions are fully mature and ethnic minorities fully agree in the future can the currency be naturally unified. On February 25th 1953, the head office of the People's Bank of China suggested that the central government adopt the latter method. On March 7th, the central government approved the report of the head office of the People's Bank of China, proposing that the financial and trade policies in ethnic minority areas should be steadily promoted and tilted towards ethnic minorities (including local businessmen and upper-class members). Don't be too hasty, especially don't move the mainland measures into ethnic minority areas, and ask other ethnic minority areas that use silver dollars and RMB to adjust the exchange rate between RMB and silver dollars reasonably according to this report.
Five, prohibit the circulation of foreign currency in the market, strengthen foreign exchange management.
As mentioned earlier, the currency in old China was chaotic and foreign currency was widely circulated. Especially in the late period of the Liberation War, due to the collapse of the currency credit of the Kuomintang government, foreign currencies such as US dollar bills and Hong Kong dollars became one of the main pricing means in the circulation field. US dollar bills are mainly circulated in large and medium-sized cities such as Beiping, Tianjin, Shanghai and Wuhan, especially Shanghai. Hong Kong dollars are mainly distributed in South China, Guangdong, Fujian and other places, almost the world of Hong Kong dollars.
In view of the above situation, after the liberation of various places, the people's governments immediately strengthened foreign exchange management and formulated foreign exchange management measures to prohibit all foreign currencies from circulating in the China market. At the same time, it is also stipulated that anyone who holds foreign currency, whether from China or foreigners, must change it into RMB at the People's Bank of China or its designated institution within a specified time limit, or change it into foreign exchange certificates of deposit as foreign currency deposits; Foreign currency and bills held by people who enter China on business or travel must be converted into RMB or converted into foreign currency at the border exchange institution established by the People's Bank of China for storage; All foreign exchange business, including international trade settlement, international exchange and foreign exchange trading, must be handled by the Bank of China or operated by a designated bank under its supervision.
The work of receiving and exchanging foreign currency is roughly divided into two stages. 1949 was the first stage from the liberation of Pingping and Tientsin to the establishment of People's Republic of China (PRC). The main work at this stage is to exchange foreign currencies, mainly US dollars, in large and medium-sized cities such as North China, East China and Central South China. 1949 10 The liberation of Guangzhou to the end of 1950 is the second stage. The main work of this stage is to collect and exchange foreign currencies widely circulated in urban and rural areas of South China and southwest frontier areas.
In the first stage, on the one hand, the people's government strictly prohibited the black market trading of foreign currency, on the other hand, it adopted the method of deposit discount to absorb foreign currency deposits, which achieved good results because of both administrative means and economic leverage. By the end of 1949, Tianjin had converted/kloc-0.03 million US dollars and 970,000 Hong Kong dollars, and other foreign currencies were converted into/kloc-0.0 million US dollars; In Shanghai, US$ 7.58 million was converted into HK$ 6.5438+0.49 million, and various foreign exchange and foreign currency deposits were US$ 6.5438+0.24 million and HK$ 5.7265 million respectively. [9]
In the second stage, it is difficult to ban foreign currency circulation, mainly to expel and redeem Hong Kong dollars. From the liberation of Guangzhou in June of 1949 to February of 1950, in order to drive Hong Kong dollars out of the market quickly, the people's government adopted a policy of resolutely eliminating Hong Kong dollars, mainly crowding out and supplemented by exchange (due to the huge amount of Hong Kong dollars, prices will soar if a large number of Hong Kong dollars are redeemed), and broke into the black market, prompting Hong Kong dollars to return to Hong Kong and overseas. 1949 1 181October 18 Guangzhou military commission declared RMB as legal tender, and all taxes paid after grain, all public and private funds, price calculation and accounting bill contracts must be based on RMB, and foreign currency circulation is strictly prohibited. However, due to the wide circulation of Hong Kong dollars and deep penetration into rural areas, it will take time to realize the exchange. At the same time, the people's government has also carried out publicity and education activities to refuse to use foreign currency. In order to crack down on the black market of Hong Kong dollars and stabilize the financial situation, the people's government conducted a large-scale raid on underground money houses and razor lintels on February 4, 65438, and seized 65438 underground money houses and 498 razor lintels, which dealt a heavy blow to the black market of Hong Kong dollars and reduced the black market prices of Hong Kong dollars and RMB from 1: 3333 to 65438+February 4. The result of the struggle is to determine that RMB is the only legal tender in the market circulation; Eliminate the strongholds of the Hong Kong dollar black market-underground banks and razor lintels; Publicize and educate people to refuse to use foreign currency.
After February 1950, due to the expansion of RMB circulation and the resumption of traffic, the government has more materials, which basically meets the conditions for prohibiting the circulation of Hong Kong dollars. In this case, on February 3rd 1950, Guangzhou Military Commission announced that the circulation of Hong Kong dollars was prohibited. At the same time, the People's Bank of China will raise the exchange rate to facilitate exchange; Preferential measures for foreign currency deposits have also been promulgated, allowing foreign currency deposits to be converted into their own foreign exchange or withdraw RMB at the preferential remittance rate. Subsequently, Guangdong also announced a ban on the circulation of Hong Kong dollars. 1950 after the unification of finance and economics in March, due to the implementation of the "three-level" policy, the value of the price tends to be stable, the black market price of China dollars has been controlled by the quotation of the People's Bank of China, and the RMB has completely occupied the urban market. The main task of currency unification in this period is to exchange a large number of Hong Kong dollars and organize RMB to go to the countryside. Taking Guangzhou as an example, the daily exchange rate of Hong Kong dollars after mid-March is 100 times higher than that before mid-March. For 1950 alone, Guangdong Province collected 92 1 13000 Hong Kong dollars and 7 16500 US dollars. It is estimated that by the end of September, 1950, less than one-fifth of Hong Kong dollars remained in South China, and RMB has completely occupied the urban and rural circulation market.
Sixth, the realization of monetary unification in Chinese mainland.
The currency unification from 1949 to 1950 has not been carried out nationwide. It is only concentrated in the vast area of Shanhaiguan, while the northeast, Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang, which were liberated earlier, have not been unified. The three regions still carry out the original local currencies, and the Central People's Government is in no hurry to unify the currencies of various countries. This decision is quite wise and correct.
1, currency unification in Northeast Inner Mongolia.
At the beginning of 1949 and 1950, with the victory of the war of liberation, the currency was unified in the vast areas of Guanzhong. At the same time, the RMB has been depreciating continuously due to the war, and the prices in the liberated areas have fluctuated greatly. At this time, because Inner Mongolia and Northeast China were liberated earlier (Inner Mongolia was liberated in June 1948 and Northeast China was liberated in June 1948+0 1), prices were basically stable. Take the Northeast as an example. From 1945 to 1948 and then to 1948, the price of Northeast Liberated Area increased by 422 times, while from 1948 to 1949, the price increased by 12. If the local currency in Northeast China and Inner Mongolia is replaced by RMB with unstable currency value, it will inevitably cause the prices of the two places to fluctuate with those in the customs, thus restoring the economies of the two places.