Bank of China Group
Encyclopedia
- This article is about the operations of the Bank of China in Hong KongHong KongHong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
from 1954 to 2001, which was branded as titled. For the present day Bank of China, see Bank of ChinaBank of ChinaBank of China Limited is one of the big four state-owned commercial banks of the People's Republic of China. It was founded in 1912 by the Government of the Republic of China, to replace the Government Bank of Imperial China. It is the oldest bank in China...
. Since 2001, the combined operations of the Bank of China Group have been merged into Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited.
Bank of China Group (中銀集團;BOCG) was the brand used to denote 13 banks that were almost entirely owned by the Chinese government that operated in Hong Kong, until their merger in 2001 to form Bank of China (Hong Kong)
Bank of China (Hong Kong)
Bank of China Limited is the second-largest commercial banking group in Hong Kong in terms of assets and customer deposits, with more than 300 branches in Hong Kong. It was established on 1 October 2001 from a merger of 12 subsidiaries and associates of the Bank of China in Hong Kong, and listed...
. The exception was the Hong Kong branch of the Bank of Communications
Bank of Communications
Bank of Communications Limited , founded in 1908, is one of the largest banks in China.-Before 1949:The Bank of Communications was founded in 1908 and emerged as one of the first few major national and note-issuing banks in the early days of the Republic of China...
, which left BOCG in 1998. The BOCG brand is still retained by the life insurance
Life insurance
Life insurance is a contract between an insurance policy holder and an insurer, where the insurer promises to pay a designated beneficiary a sum of money upon the death of the insured person. Depending on the contract, other events such as terminal illness or critical illness may also trigger...
and casualty insurance
Casualty insurance
Casualty insurance, often equated to liability insurance, is used to describe an area of insurance not directly concerned with life insurance, health insurance, or property insurance. It is mainly used to describe the liability coverage of an individual or organization's for negligent acts or...
operations of the Bank of China
Bank of China
Bank of China Limited is one of the big four state-owned commercial banks of the People's Republic of China. It was founded in 1912 by the Government of the Republic of China, to replace the Government Bank of Imperial China. It is the oldest bank in China...
, in both Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
and Mainland China
Mainland China
Mainland China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China . According to the Taipei-based Mainland Affairs Council, the term excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and...
.
History
The opening of a branch of the Bank of China in Hong Kong in 1917 marked the entry of state-owned Chinese banks into the then colony's banking sector. Other banks soon followed suit, starting with Yien Yieh Commercial BankYien Yieh Commercial Bank
Yien Yieh Commercial Bank was a bank in Hong Kong. It was established in Beijing in 1915 by Mr. Zhang Zhenfang , the cousin of Yuan Shikai, to specialize salt industry with official funds under government supervision...
in 1918.
By the time the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
was established in 1949, there were 15 branches of state owned Chinese banks in Hong Kong, plus branches of nine Mainland-incorporated banks that were public-private joint venture
Joint venture
A joint venture is a business agreement in which parties agree to develop, for a finite time, a new entity and new assets by contributing equity. They exercise control over the enterprise and consequently share revenues, expenses and assets...
s , namely:
- Sin Hua Bank Limited (SHB)
- China & South Sea Bank Limited (CSSB)
- Kincheng Banking CorporationKincheng Banking CorporationKincheng Banking Corporation or Kincheng Bank was a bank in Hong Kong. It was established in Tianjin in 1917 by Mr. Zhou Zuomin , Mr. Ni Sichong and Mr. Wang Zhilong...
(KBC) - China State Bank Limited (CSBL)
- The National Commercial Bank Limited (TNCB)
- The Yien Yieh Commercial Bank LimitedYien Yieh Commercial BankYien Yieh Commercial Bank was a bank in Hong Kong. It was established in Beijing in 1915 by Mr. Zhang Zhenfang , the cousin of Yuan Shikai, to specialize salt industry with official funds under government supervision...
(YYCB) - Young Brothers Banking Corporation
- Wo Sang Bank
- National Industrial Bank of ChinaNational Industrial Bank of ChinaNational Industrial Bank of China was a bank established in September 1915 in Tianjin. It moved its headquarters to Shanghai in 1932. The bank merged with Bank of Communications in 1935, although its branch in Hong Kong remained in operations under the National Industrial Bank name until 1954....
In addition, the Chinese government established Po Sang Bank
Po Sang Bank
Po Sang Bank was a bank established in 1949 in Hong Kong. All other banks operated by the Bank of China in the territory were merged into it in 2001, and the bank was renamed Bank of China ....
in 1949 and Nanyang Commercial Bank
Nanyang Commercial Bank
Nanyang Commercial Bank is a bank based in Hong Kong and a wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of China , with 41 branches. NCB primarily focuses on corporate customers, in particular trading companies. However, since 2007 it has also taken over all of BOCHK's mainland business as well....
in 1950. Both of these were incorporated in Hong Kong.
Centralised management
In 1952, the nine public-private banks were grouped into the Joint Office of Joint Public-Private Banks. The Hong Kong branches of three of these (namely Young Brothers Banking Corporation, Wo Sang Bank and National Industrial Bank of ChinaNational Industrial Bank of China
National Industrial Bank of China was a bank established in September 1915 in Tianjin. It moved its headquarters to Shanghai in 1932. The bank merged with Bank of Communications in 1935, although its branch in Hong Kong remained in operations under the National Industrial Bank name until 1954....
were closed in 1954 when their parents were scrapped, and management of the remaining six public-private banks were transferred to the Hong Kong and Macau Regional Office of the Bank of China in 1958. The Bank of China later took over management of the Hong Kong branches of Kwangtung Provincial Bank
Kwangtung Provincial Bank
The Kwangtung Provincial Bank was a bank latterly based in Hong Kong. Also known as the Provincial Bank of Kwangtung Province. The largest of the provincial banks, there were however a succession of at least seven distinct organisations functioning as The Kwangtung Provincial Bank from 1905...
, Hua Chiao Commercial Bank Limited and the Bank of Communications
Bank of Communications
Bank of Communications Limited , founded in 1908, is one of the largest banks in China.-Before 1949:The Bank of Communications was founded in 1908 and emerged as one of the first few major national and note-issuing banks in the early days of the Republic of China...
. All three were incorporated in the Mainland.
1970-1980s
The Bank of China began accumulating stakes in Chiyu Banking CorporationChiyu Banking Corporation
Chiyu Banking Corporation Limited is a bank incorporated in Hong Kong.- History :It was founded by Tan Kah Kee in 1947, and it has 23 branches in Hong Kong and focuses on serving the community of residents of Fujian descent in Hong Kong.Chiyu was explicitly created by Chen to create a sustainable...
in the 1970s. In June 1975, the Bank of China moved to increase the capital of the public-private banks. As all of the new capital were from the Chinese government, private ownership in the public-private banks were substantially reduced to less than 1%.
The 14 banks were rebranded as part of the Bank of China Group in the 1980s, after a common IT platform was established. Treasury and foreign currency exchange operations were also centralised.