Zheng Shichang

Zheng Shichang was a merchant from Ningbo, Zhejiang province who founded the Siheng Money Shop in Beijing during the middle period of the reign of Emperor Kangxi during the Qing Dynasty (1645-1911).

He was a member of Ningbi group of merchants which consisted of merchants from Ningbo City as well as a few counties under the jurisdiction of today's Shaoxing and Zhoushan cities in Zhejiang Province. Also known as the "grassroots businessmen”, the Ningbo merchants often started from scratch, engaging themselves in newly-emerging industries or acting as compradors for foreign traders. After gaining their first big profit, they turned to national industries, commerce and finance, producing a great number of early industrialists in modern China. The group was well-known for its operations in banking, medicine, garment, sea food and insurance industries.