Shanxi merchants

Shanxi merchants, also known as Jin merchants (Chinese: 晋商; pinyin: Jìnshāng), were the group of merchants from Shanxi province, China. Jin is an abbreviated name of Shanxi.

Even though the history of noticeable Shanxi merchants can be dated back to as early as the Spring and Autumn period, more than 2000 years ago, Shanxi merchants became prominent during the Ming and Qing dynasties, and their dominant influence in Chinese commerce, within the nation and with neighboring Mongolia, Russia, and Japan, lasted for more than 500 years.

The Shanxi merchants also operated an early Chinese type of draft bank known as the piaohao; these were the dominant form of banks in China until the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911.