Background
Mr. M. Y. San was born at Hsiang Shan Hsien, Kuangtung province in 1878. He became a merchant abroad while still a youth.
Mr. M. Y. San was born at Hsiang Shan Hsien, Kuangtung province in 1878. He became a merchant abroad while still a youth.
In the Philippine Islands Mr. M. Y. San established a confectionery and biscuit factory and made rapid success in his business. After the establishment of the Republic in 1912 Mr. M. Y. San returned to Canton (Guangzhou). He extended his confectionery business by establishing a central factory at Hongkong registering with the Hongkong government, increasing the capital to three milliou dollars. Subsequently he put up a special factory to make sweetened gingeirs and also a glass factory at Hongkong. Soon afterwards Mr. M. Y. San opened his head office in a building in Nanking Road, Shanghai. With this-place as his headquarters and with branches all over China and the South Sea Islands he carried on export business on an extensive scale.
In 1921 he promoted the China National Sugar Refining Company for which a capital of ten million dollars was subscribed. The Chinese government granted tax exemption on the products of that company for a period of ten years. The factory was situated at Woosung near Shanghai.
In 1922 Mr. M. Y. San made a round-the-world trip to investigate sugar production in the different countries. He was also on a government mission to study the industrial conditions of the various nations. During his trip he personally inspected all the leading factories of Great Britain, the United States, Germany, France, Japan, Switzerland, Holland, and the South Sea Islands.
Mr. M. Y. San was also president of the M. Y. San Confectionery and Biscuit Manufacturing Company as well as of the China National Sugar Refining Co.