China’s Rubber Industry

This chapter describes the experiences of the rubber industry in China during the Sino-Japanese War. It discusses the specific experiences of the Da Zhonghua Rubber Company and the Zhengtai Rubber Company. The chapter explains that while the nascent rubber industry survived in the Shanghai area, Da Zhonghua and Zhengtai ultimately had to collaborate with the Japanese after December 1941 in order to remain in production. Most rubber manufacturers demonstrated a willingness to work with the Japanese military but a strong reluctance to surrender control of their enterprises to a Japanese business partner.