Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c5.s3.t4: E D Sassoon & Co
Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c5.s3.t4
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E D Sassoon & Co
v1.c5.s3.t4.1
E D Sassoon was the second of eight sons of David Sassoon, founder of the wealthy and powerful Sassoon group of companies that had major commercial, industrial and financial interests in China from the mid-19ᵗʰ to mid 20ᵗʰ century CE. Belonging to the Baghdadi Jewish community, David Sassoon arrived in Bombay as a refugee in 1832 and very quickly moved into the China trade. Bombay was the headquarters of their business empire for about one century although various members of the family eventually relocated to England in later decades.
v1.c5.s3.t4.2
The Sassoons initially derived most of their profits from the opium trade in which they had a commanding presence. Later, they diversified into many different lines of business, becoming one of the most prominent business families of Hong Kong and Shanghai. E D Sassoon, who was first sent to China by his father in 1844, eventually separated from the parent Sassoon Company. In 1872, he set up his own company known as the E. D. Sassoon Company with its headquarters at 5 Renji Road in Shanghai. In Chinese, it was known as the (New Sassoon) company, to distinguish it from the original Sassoon Company. Eventually, under the two subsequent heads of the company, Jacob Sassoon and Victor Sassoon, it went on to become the dominant Sassoon company in China.
v1.c5.s3.t4.3
Shaxun mansion in Shanghai
v1.c5.s3.t4.4
Apart from their interests in the opium trade, E D Sassoon Company had a thriving cloth business, importing cloth from Britain and supplying it to the most prominent stores on Shanghai’s Nanjing and Tianjin Roads. They also had a profitable insurance business. From the end of the 19^th century CE, they ventured into manufacturing, setting up spinning and weaving factories, and rice, paper and flour mills as well as breweries. Among their most successful ventures was their involvement in real estate. They controlled the Hua Mao Real Estate Company, Shanghai Real Estate Company and Far East Real Estate Company. Some of the most iconic buildings on the Shanghai Bund were owned by them. They owned among others the Huamao Hotel, Cathay Hotel, Guo Tai Grand Theatre and the grand building they constructed in 1928 known as Sassoon House. In the insecure conditions of China in the 1920s and 1930s, they made huge profits through the issue of shares and bonds. The E D Sassoon Company was also prominent in the business life of Hong Kong although their interests reduced after the beginning of the 20^th century CE.
v1.c5.s3.t4.5
The main business interests of the E D Sassoon Company in Shanghai were wound up by Victor Sassoon in 1948 but they continued to receive rent from their many properties there for some years until these were finally taken over by the Chinese Government in 1958.
v1.c5.s3.t4.6
(*Madhavi Thampi*)