Few would deny that British and American bankers played a large and often controversial role in the western imperialism that reached its zenith in China during the early years of the twentieth century. China had always seemed to be a country where large investments would bring handsome returns; many individuals hoped to take advantage of the situation; and capital invested there did indeed have far-reaching, unforeseen ramifications. Among the many contentious issues in the bankers' story, however, is the question of intent and motivation. Reduced to its simplest terms, did the bankers seek to manipulate national policy in an unbridled quest for profit? Or were they the willing, even altruistic agents of governments bent upon imperial ventures? Professor Davis assesses this question from the western perspective. Having based his research on financial, diplomatic, and personal records, he suggests that the objectives and activities of the bankers, vis-à-vis govenment policymakers, were far more shifting and complex than has been generally perceived.

As the twentieth century opened, numbers of American businessmen, spurred in part by the forceful persuasions of American diplomats, hoped to profit from the legendary China market by taking on Chinese partners. At the same time, groups of Chinese entrepreneurs, struck by the success and wealth of the United States, hoped to take advantage of American capital by launching joint ventures with the Americans. Such enterprises generally proved difficult to form, however, and once organized, tended to see the Americans predominate and the Chinese relegated to distinctly secondary roles. But there were exceptions, as Professor Pugach points out in this essay on the Chinese-American Bank of Commerce. While the founding of this firm provides ample proof that joint Sino-American companies had to overcome large hurdles to come into being, the formation of the bank suggests that mutual self-interest, ideal circumstances, and perhaps good luck could overcome the problems inherent in creating joint ventures in which both sides could share roughly equal positions.