A Question About “Road Rights”
How did people build roads in Fujian 100 years ago?
This wasn’t just a technical question—it was a question about capital, governance, and social change.
In 1917, the first automobile was imported into Fuzhou. Before that, the scale of Fujian’s vast landscape was measured by “shoulder poles,” and travel was an arduous journey through narrow and winding ancient trails.
Then something called the “Automobile Road Company” appeared. They didn’t just build roads—they also held exclusive franchises for mail, passenger, and freight transport. This was Fujian’s first wave of social capital-driven infrastructure in Fujian’s history.
This was the “integrated road-and-transport” model of the Republican era.
Quanan Company: Overseas Chinese Crowdfunding Experiment
In 1919, Chen Qingji, a returnee from Japan, returned to China with a big vision.
He wanted to build a road from Quanzhou to Anhai. Where would the money come from?
Chen personally traveled to Manila and Cebu to solicit investment. At 20 silver dollars per share, he raised 30,000 silver dollars in one trip. The company’s initial capital reached 250,000 silver dollars, growing to 500,000 by 1930.
This wasn’t an official project—it was overseas Chinese using their own money to build roads. They weren’t looking for quick profits—they were doing it for their hometowns.
Quanhe Company: Building While Operating, Growing From Small to Large
In Xiamen in 1926, another story unfolded.
Huang Qinghui and seven other returnees from Malaya pooled 10,000+ silver dollars to buy 2 small buses and founded “Quanhe Automobile Co., Ltd.
Because profits were good, Heshan expatriates invested heavily. They adopted a strategy of connecting and expanding road sections while operating, forming Xiamen Island’s early road network.
In 1929, Quanhe, Xiangnan, and Quanan implemented integrated ticketing. Passengers could buy one ticket to reach their destinations directly. This cross-company cooperation significantly improved transportation efficiency.
**This was the “logistics network” budding 100 years ago.
Chen Jiageng: Turning Roads into a Road into a “Mobile Asset” for Education
Among these stories, Chen Jiageng’s “Tongmei Automobile Road Co., Ltd.” was the most special.
In 1920, to make travel convenient for Jimei School Village teachers, students, and Tong’an and Anxi merchants, Chen initiated the Tong’an-Jimei road.
He personally donated 60,000 Straits dollars, with a planned capital of 500,000 silver dollars.
But what was most moving: after Tongmei became profitable, 20% of its profits were earmarked for Jimei School investment funds.
This wasn’t just a road—it was an educational artery that generated its own blood supply.
In 1955, Chen wrote to the Ministry of Transport, expressing his wish to donate the entire company to the state. Per Premier Zhou Enlai’s instructions, Tongmei was taken over by the state, and Chen’s shares remained as teaching funds for Jimei schools.
War, Requisition, Consolidation: The Fragility of Private Capital
The local chronicles don’t shy away from these companies’ vulnerabilities.
After the Anti-Japanese War broke out, coastal roads in Fujian were destroyed by decree to hinder the enemy, and most automobile road companies were forced to close down, with massive asset losses.
The Tong-Ma-Guan-Jiao Automobile Road Company was established in 1930 with 8 vehicles. But with the volatile political situation, vehicles were often requisitioned by the military, and “sealing cars for opium eradication” became the norm. Combined with road damage from heavy rain, the company collapsed after only three years due to heavy losses.
In 1934, the Provincial Construction Department established an Automobile Management Office to “organize” struggling companies. For example, Quanhe’s capital was acquired at 30% value to form the state-supervised Xiahe Automobile Co., Ltd., marking the end of free-market capital competition in Fujian’s road history.
What These Stories Teach Us
These automobile road company charters and stock stubs in the Fujian Provincial Chronicles aren’t just commercial fragments—they’re the most resilient memories of a nation’s modernization.
Three insights:
First, private capital is an endogenous driver of regional development. The success of Quanan and Quanhe proved that the first impetus for local development often comes from people’s conscious demand for connection. In today’s era where social capital participation in infrastructure is encouraged, the Republican-era “crowdfunding road-building” model still has reference value.
Second, public interest and commercial profitability can be balanced. Tongmei Company showed the perfect fusion of infrastructure and social welfare (education). When infrastructure can continuously produce social returns, its vitality lies not just in the lifespan of its pavement, but in the cultural identity it carries.
Third, rule of law and planning are protective umbrellas for infrastructure. Early automobile road companies often fell victim to war and arbitrary administrative action (military requisitions). Modern urban governance must rely on strict road administration regulations to ensure “road rights” aren’t illegally encroached upon to achieve sustainable transportation development.
These yellowed charters and stock stubs aren’t just fragments of commercial history—they’re the most resilient digital memories of a nation’s modernization.