Du Pont (China), Inc.

Du Pont's first big entry into the Chinese market occurred in 1917, when they sent R.S. Lunt to investigate the prospects for exporting dyestuffs to replace European articles interdicted by World War I. Blue cloth being a popular item throughout China, he selected indigo as the product most likely to succeed, and this proved to be the case, although the company later exported sulphur black, other dyes, rubber chemicals, and agricultural chemicals.

In March 1921, Dr. Francis A.M. Noelting arrived in Shanghai as sales manager for dyestuffs. However, the importation of dyestuffs was in the hands of a "dye guild" of Chinese merchants who demanded that Du Pont form a joint enterprise with 50 percent Chinese capital. Noelting achieved success by bypassing the guild at Shanghai and making direct contact with cloth dyers in the interior. On the whole, this strategy was successful, and Du Pont developed a network of sales agencies in many of the Chinese provinces. The main office remained in Shanghai under Dr. Noelting, where there was also a small processing plant. As a goodwill gesture, Noelting employed a number of native Chinese, particularly those who had studied technical subjects in the U.S., in responsible positions. Eventually, a separate firm, Du Pont (China), Inc., was incorporated in Delaware to handle the Chinese export business.

Du Pont's operations were naturally hindered by the outbreak of war between Japan and China in the 1930s and the subsequent Japanese occupation of Shanghai. After Pearl Harbor, the Japanese seized the Shanghai office and plant and turned it over to the Chugai Investment Company, a subsidiary of Mitsui. As many of the employees either had managed to evacuate or were not American natives, most of the staff seems to have escaped being sent to prison camps but were left to fend for themselves. The office in Chungking in unoccupied China was also closed.

After the war, the company managed to repossess most of its property, but business increasingly felt the impact of the civil war between Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists and Mao Tse-tung's Communists, culminating in the latter's occupation of Shanghai and victory in 1949. Western recognition of the Nationalist regime on Taiwan as the legitimate Chinese government, and the severing of relations with and economic boycott of Mao's regime on the mainland soon put an end to Du Pont's Chinese venture. Noelting retired at the end of 1949. The Shanghai office was closed, and a reduced operation was moved to Hong Kong under Gantt W. Miller, Jr.

From the description of Records of Du Pont (China), Inc., 1921-1951 (bulk, 1941-1950). (Hagley Museum & Library). WorldCat record id: 650090819