Former Site of the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce

Former Site of the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce

The former site of the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce is located at No. 470 North Suzhou Road. This site was originally the location of the Qing government’s envoy office. In modern times, Shanghai had become a hub of maritime activity, with most Chinese envoys departing from the Shanghai port. To ensure safety at sea, following the tradition of fishermen in southern Fujian who built “Mazu temples” or “Tianhou palaces” to worship and pray for safe voyages, in the 10th year of the Guangxu reign (1884), 8,000 square meters of land were acquired here to construct both the Tianhou Palace and the Envoy Office.

In the 28th year of the Guangxu reign (1902), the Shanghai Commercial Meeting Hall was located at Wuchangli on Dama Road (now Nanjing Road). In February of the 30th year of Guangxu (1904), the hall moved to Aierjin Road (now Anqing Road), and was later continued by the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce. It was subsequently renamed as the Commercial Port Hall and then the Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce. From October of the 3rd year of the Xuantong reign (November 1911) to December 19, the Shanghai Military Government designated the Tianhou Palace (formerly the Qing government’s Envoy Office) on Tiema Road (now North Henan Road) as the office address for the Shanghai Commercial Meeting Hall. In February of the 1st year of the Republic of China (1912), after the Shanghai Commercial Meeting Hall and the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce merged to form the “Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce,” a council chamber and office building were constructed on the original site of the Tianhou Palace. The new address was set at the current No. 470 North Suzhou Road.

In 1911, after the Shanghai Uprising, business communities from both the north and south districts held meetings to establish a separate chamber of commerce. The reorganized and merged group included 100 representatives from guilds, associations, and other trades, collectively known as "guild members," representing various banks, money shops, and companies; there were also 89 non-guild members. Zhu Baosan, a prominent businessman from Huangyan, Zhejiang, was elected as the vice manager of the Chamber of Commerce.

Starting in 1914, the Chamber of Commerce successively established a commodity exhibition hall, a domestic goods market, a commercial school, and launched the “Commercial Monthly.” In 1915, it moved into the new site of the former Shanghai Chamber of Commerce, built on the original site of the Envoy Office, covering an area of 3,300 square meters. The entrance gate along Suzhou River was adorned with Western-style columns and floral decorations, with the plaque inscribed with the five large characters “Shanghai Chamber of Commerce.” Upon entering is a passageway, at the northern end of which is a small garden to the west, featuring a monument to the Four Boy Scout Martyrs (Boy Scouts Luo Yunxiang, Mao Zhengxiang, Ying Wenduo, and Zou Zhengwu, who went to the front lines during the January 28 Incident to rescue the wounded and were killed by Japanese troops). The main buildings are the South Building and the North Building, both three-story reinforced concrete structures in the classical architectural style. The buildings were designed by the Tonghe Foreign Firm, with a total construction cost of over 120,000 taels of silver. The South Building has a floor area of 4,100 square meters, with the ground floor serving as a meeting hall and the second and third floors as offices. The North Building has a floor area of 3,016 square meters, housing the Commodity Exhibition Hall, Domestic Goods Market, and a Commercial Night School, among others. Both buildings feature exposed red brick walls, with Baroque-style decorations on pilasters, doors, and windows. The sides of the meeting hall include colonnades and box seats, exuding an elegant style with exquisite carvings. The ceremonial gate of the Chamber of Commerce headquarters is modeled after a Roman triumphal arch, with a pair of composite columns that appear majestic and solemn. The new chamber site became a gathering place for prominent business elites of the time, where they planned strategies for prosperity and established it as the center of private economic organizations.

In 1929, the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce was renamed the Shanghai Special Municipality General Chamber of Commerce, and the following year it reverted to the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce, with branches established in Nanshi, Jiangwan, Pudong, and Wusong. After the liberation, it was rented out and became the Shanghai Federation of Industry and Commerce. In 1979, it moved to No. 51 Hong Kong Road, and the buildings on North Suzhou Road were rented by entities such as the Electronic Components Research Institute. Currently, the original buildings are dilapidated, with significant internal alterations, though the aged Western-style gate can still evoke memories of that glorious era.

Address: No. 470 North Suzhou Road, Zhabei District, Shanghai (north end of Henan Road Bridge)

Transportation Guide: Accessible via buses No. 14, 19, 66, and others.

Nearby attractions include the Riverside Building and Henan Road Bridge.