Li Zucai

Li Zu‑cai (c. 1880 – 28 October 1968), also known as Li Zu‑cai, was a financier and industrialist at the end of the Qing dynasty and during the Republican era. He founded Tianjin’s first foreign trade firm in local history.

Biography

Born in Zhenhai County, Ningbo Prefecture, Zhejiang Province during the Guangxu Emperor’s reign, Li hailed from the prominent Xiaogang Li clan. His elder brother, Li Zu‑shen, was a well‑known mining industrialist at the end of the Qing and was nephew to local comprador Ye Xinghai and nephew-in-law to Shanghai tycoon Li Zheng‑wu.

Li began his career as a comprador in foreign firms in Tianjin, serving at the English-owned Eastern Trading Company and later at the American-affiliated Meifeng Trading Company. He then joined the Beiyang government, holding the post of inspector in Shandong Province and later managing the Liuhegou Coal Mine near Beijing.

In 1918, together with Ye Xinghai, he co-founded the Li‑Ji Trading Company in Tianjin, the city's first foreign trade firm, serving as general manager. Investors included Cao Rulin and Lu Zongyu. In October 1919, he, Li Zu‑shen, and Yu Qiaqing established Li‑Ji Import‑Export Trading House in Beijing. In 1923, again partnering with Ye Xinghai, they took over the British-owned Xingmao Trading Company to form Tianjin Packing Ltd, the first Chinese-owned packing company. Li also invested in the Baoli Hospital, an early X-ray–equipped medical facility.

In 1928, he and Ye Yongfang founded the Shangbao newspaper in Tianjin. In 1948, Li moved to Hong Kong with his brother Li Zu‑shen, where he continued working in foreign trade.

Li Zu‑cai passed away on 28 October 1968.