Abstract
A huge capital investment by Japanese cotton-spinning companies in Qingdao gave incentive to the development of modern industries in this region. Qingdao became well-known as a cotton industrial region and one of the most prosperous cities in China from the 1920s to the 1930s. With respect to the textile industry, the favorable regional condition of Qingdao-an abundant supply of raw cotton, cheap coal and labor, facilities for transportation, and a large market for consumption-provided the foundation for a cotton-spinning industry. The composition of the labor force in Qingdao and the labor management of Japanese companies, for instance the availability of male laborers and the training system within the companies, played an especially significant role in the development of the cotton-spinning industry in Qingdao. With the rapid growth of Japanese cotton-spinning companies, technically skilled workers and a rational labor management system became widespread in the region, and other industries also grew, and the economic and social conditions in Qingdao improved.
