Title

From Seepages to Oilfields: Technology, Institution Building, and China’s Early Petroleum Enterprises, 1914-1945

Author

Wang, Hsien-chun

Genre

Article

Pages

201-238

Download

PDF

Language

English

Key words

Yumen Oilfield, National Resource Commission, Weng Wenhao, Qian Changzhao

Abstract

This empirical study of the application of the developmental state thesis to history of the Nationalist government of China before 1949 explores how technology might have played a crucial role in shaping China’s early state-owned enterprises. It begins with an analysis of how an unfavorable petroleum geological assessment and the small petroleum market gave little incentive to entrepreneurs to invest in oil exploration. It also discusses how technology continued to hamper the Nationalist government’s efforts in oil prospecting. Then, it considers the history of China’s first large-scale oilfield, the Yumen Oilfield, which was established in 1939 at the height of the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). It argues that the Nationalist government shared some features of the developmental state, yet, despite the aspiration of economic nationalism, technology played a crucial role in the birth of China’s petroleum enterprises.