Shanxi merchants
In the next thirty years, eleven "piaohao" were established in Shanxi province, including Pingyao and neighboring counties of Qi County, Taigu, and Yuci. By the end of the nineteenth century, thirty-two "piaohao" with 475 branches were in business covering most of China, and the central Shanxi region became the "de facto" financial centres of Qing China. The Chinese banking institutions of "draft bank" or "piaohao" were also known as Shanxi banks because they were owned primarily by Shanxi merchants.