[2] Chen was born in Nanhai in Guangdong Province in 1870, the son of a merchant from Hong Kong.

For this reason, he is sometimes referred to as China’s “first foreign scholar.”[2] In 1908, Chen was appointed deputy director of the bureau of printing and engraving and sent on a mission overseas to investigate methods of postage stamp production.

Following the 1911 Revolution, President Sun Yat-sen, who at this time headed a southern government based in Nanjing, named Chen minister of finance.

In 1926-1927, the Nationalists in the South advanced north and defeated the Beiyang government based in Beijing.

In the spring of 1927, the Nationalists arrested Chen in Hangzhou and accused him of collusion with the leftist Wuhan government, a charge that was later dropped.

In early 1935, he was appointed as an adviser on currency matters to H. H. Kung, the Nationalist finance minister.

[2] Before 1928, Chen was one of the few Chinese officials considered expert or competent by China’s foreign diplomats.

He was responsible for significant improvements in printing and engraving, as well as founding the Bank of China.