The Treaty of Shimonoseki was signed in 1895 and led to the deregulation of Chinese private enterprise investment in state monopolized industries. Newly founded enterprises necessitated cooperation amongst member-owners for access to primitive capital. A spirit of cooperative behavior thus resulted in the birth of enterprises in China. We used Chinese prefecture-level panel data between 1880 and 1899 to demonstrate that an increase in the number of enterprises brought by the deregulation is more likely to form in regions that culturally nurture cooperative behavior. We also found a persistent influence of cooperative culture on foundation of enterprises today.