The Kangchu system was a socio-economic system of organisation and administration developed by Chinese agricultural settlers in Johor during the 19th century. The settlers organised themselves into informal associations (similar to the Kongsi organisations found in other Chinese communities), and chose a leader from among themselves. In Chinese, "Kangchu" (Chinese: 港主, Pinyin: Gáng Zhǔ, Teochew: Kaang6 Zhu8) literally means ‘master of the riverbank’, and was the title given to the Chinese headmen of these river settlements. The "Kangchu" leaders are also called "Kapitan".