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This is a short history of finance in China, covering the development of native financial institutions and practices, the influx of foreign banks, financial policies of governments in modern China and the beginnings of the Chinese Communist Party financial system. It has six chapters. The first chapter is a brief introduction to the local merchant groups, brokerage firms, banks and other credit institutions in the 19th century. The focus of this part of the book is the development of credit and the infrastructure that supported it in the late Qing dynasty, especially those stemming from indigenous traditions. Chapter 2 is about the history of finance during 1840-1894. First, the author deals with the entry of foreign firms and banks into China's economy. Large parts of the narrative here are devoted to the influence of Britain, especially the establishment of HSBC. Then the books analyses how native forms of Chinese banking including qianzhuang (commercial banks) and piaohao (remittance organisations) responded to and took advantage of foreign capital and the rise of foreign trade. However, there were also frequent financial crises and chaos in the use of currencies in this period. The next chapter is about the formation of a semi-colonial society in China during 1895-1927. With the signing of unequal treaties with foreign powers and paying indemnities, China had a huge foreign debt. The first modern banks in China were established in the period. Chapter 4 narrates the development of financial agencies and central banks in Republican China, centring on the four banks and two agencies of the Guomindang (KMT). The Guomindang also initiated currency reforms, replacing the tael with silver dollars and linking the official Chinese currency with the British pound and the US dollar. This chapter also charts the rise of Shanghai, the centre of financial activities for both Chinese and foreign merchants. In the following chapter the author looks at finance during the war with Japan in 1937-1945. This includes how the Japanese and collaborative regimes take over financial institutions in occupied regions, wartime financial policies of the KMT, and the opening of banks and credit institutions in CCP bases. The three parties were involved in a "war of currencies". Not long after the war with Japan China was dragged into civil war. The financial system under the KMT came to a collapse because of serious inflation and the failure of temporary currencies. With the Communist takeover foreign banks started to withdraw from China, branches of the People's Bank were set up after the PRC replaced the KMT. The author then goes on to discuss the new government's measures in reshaping the country's financial system into a socialist one. A brief bibliography is provided at the end of the book.