The Kwangtung Provincial Bank () was a

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

latterly based in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

, 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 trading as the Kwangtung Provincial Bank from 1904 through 1949, with Chinese operations suspended in 1950-51; absorbed into the

People's Bank of China The People's Bank of China (officially PBC or informally PBOC; ) is the central bank of the People's Republic of China, responsible for carrying out monetary policy and regulation of financial institutions in mainland China, as determined by ...

following the establishment of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. The remainder of the bank continued in operation until 2001 when it was taken over by the Bank of China (Hong Kong).

Banknote Issue

The first known banknote issues appeared in 1913, through to 1922, all printed by the

American Banknote Company ABCorp is an American corporation providing contract manufacturing and related services to the authentication, payment and secure access business sectors. Its history dates back to 1795 as a secure engraver and printer, and assisting the newl ...

, New York. Subsequent issues are of 1923 and 1925 as the Central Bank of China. During the 1930s, three separate issues of currency all dated 1931 were issued by the bank. Small change (10, 20 and 50 cents) issues appeared in 1934 and 1935. Larger notes of $1 to $10 were issued between 1935 and 1940 after which the bank was taken over by the invading Japanese. Following the defeat of Japan in 1945, the bank was re-established and issued one final series of currency in 1949 in denominations of 1, 5, 10 and 50 cents, and 1, 5, 10 and 100 Yuan. Two million dollars' worth of the 1918 notes were withdrawn by the bank under the orders of Dr Sun Yatsen, to fund military activities during 1921-22.

History

*1924: The bank was re-established in

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

T. V. Soong Soong Tse-vung, more commonly romanized as Soong Tse-ven or Soong Tzu-wen (; 4 December 1894 – 25 April 1971), was a prominent businessman and politician in the early 20th-century Republic of China, who served as Premier. His father was Char ...

, the

brother-in-law A sibling-in-law is the spouse of one's sibling, or the sibling of one's spouse, or the person who is married to the sibling of one's spouse.Cambridge Dictionaries Online.Family: non-blood relations. More commonly, a sibling-in-law is referred ...

Sun Yat-sen Sun Yat-sen (; also known by several other names; 12 November 1866 – 12 March 1925)Singtao daily. Saturday edition. 23 October 2010. section A18. Sun Yat-sen Xinhai revolution 100th anniversary edition . was a Chinese politician who serve ...

, as the Central Bank (). It was the first

central bank A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the currency and monetary policy of a country or monetary union, and oversees their commercial banking system. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central ba ...

established in China. *1929: It was renamed to Kwangtung Central Bank () so as to prevent confusion with the national Central Bank of China founded at Nanjing in 1928. Its role was reverted from central bank to provincial government bank.

branches were also established. *1932: It was restructured as the Kwangtung Provincial Bank. *1949: Last banknote issue. *2001: The bank was merged into

Bank of China (Hong Kong) Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited () also known as its short name Bank of China (Hong Kong) or BOCHK (), is a subsidiary of the Bank of China (via a Hong Kong-listed intermediate holding company BOC Hong Kong (Holdings)). Bank of China (Hong K ...

.History of Bank of China (Hong Kong)

References

Bibliography

* {{Banks of the Qing dynasty Companies based in Guangzhou Defunct banks of China Defunct banks of Hong Kong Bank of China Banks disestablished in 2001 Banks established in 1924