Bank of Communications (BOCOM or BankComm) is a Chinese multinational banking and

financial services Financial services are service (economics), economic services tied to finance provided by financial institutions. Financial services encompass a broad range of tertiary sector of the economy, service sector activities, especially as concerns finan ...

corporation. It was originally established in 1908 and was one of a handful of domestic Chinese banks that issued banknotes in modern history. Following the

Chinese Communist Revolution The Chinese Communist Revolution was a social revolution, social and political revolution in China that began in 1927 and culminated with the proclamation of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949. The revolution was led by the Chinese C ...

in 1949, the mainland operation of that bank were merged into the

People's Bank of China The People's Bank of China (officially PBC and unofficially PBOC) is the central bank of the People's Republic of China. It is responsible for carrying out monetary policy as determined by the ''PRC People's Bank Law'' and the ''PRC Commercia ...

and People's Construction Bank of China under the Communist

single-tier banking system A single-tier banking system is a policy framework under which all credit institutions coexist without distinction about the quality of their liabilities, or in other words, there is no distinction between central bank money and broad money. Thi ...

, while its continuation in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

eventually became part of

Mega International Commercial Bank The Mega International Commercial Bank () is the second largest bank in Taiwan by tier 1 capital and a subsidiary of Mega Financial Holding Company. It has 108 branches (including foreign department) in Taiwan and 39 overseas units (excluding ...

. In 1986, the Bank of Communications was revived in the mainland as a commercial credit institution. It was listed on

the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (, SEHK, also known as Hong Kong Stock Exchange) is a stock exchange based in Hong Kong. It is one of the largest stock exchanges in Asia and the List of major stock exchanges, 9th largest globally by market ...

in June 2005 and the

Shanghai Stock Exchange The Shanghai Stock Exchange (, SSE) is a stock exchange based in the city of Shanghai, China. It is one of the three stock exchanges operating independently in mainland China, the others being the Beijing Stock Exchange and the Shenzhen Stock ...

in May 2007. The Bank was ranked No. 151 among the

Fortune Global 500 The ''Fortune'' Global 500, also known as Global 500, is an annual ranking of the top 500 corporations worldwide as measured by revenue. The list is compiled and published annually by '' Fortune'' magazine. Methodology Until 1989, it listed o ...

in terms of operating income and No. 11 among the global top 1,000 banks in terms of Tier 1 capital rated by the London-based magazine

The Banker ''The Banker'' is an English-language monthly international financial affairs publication owned by '' The Financial Times'' and edited in London, United Kingdom. The magazine was first published in January 1926 through founding editor Brendan ...

. In 2023, the company was ranked 53rd in the

Forbes Global 2000 The ''Forbes'' Global 2000 is an annual ranking of the top 2000 public companies in the world, published by: sales, profit, assets and market value. The list has been published annually since 2003. By country Forbes Global 2000 as of 2023: ...

History

Before 1949

In 1907,

Liang Shiyi Liang Shiyi (; May 5, 1869 – April 9, 1933) was a Chinese minister who served as premier of China during the Beiyang government from 1921 to 1922. Biography Liang Shiyi was born in Sanshui, Guangdong in 1869. In the Qing dynasty, he was ...

proposed the formation of a Bank of Communications to redeem the

Beijing–Hankou Railway The Beijing–Hankou or Jinghan railway (), also Peking–Hankow railway, was the former name of the railway in China from Beijing to Hankou, on the northern bank of the Yangtze River. The railway was built between 1897 and 1906 by a Belgian com ...

from its Belgian owners and place the railway under Chinese control. The Bank of Communications was formed in 1908 and provided more than half of the financing needed to buy the railway. The successful redemption enhanced the prestige of Liang's

Communications Clique The Communications Clique () was a powerful interest group of politicians, bureaucrats, technocrats, businessmen, engineers, and labour unionists in China's Beiyang government (1912–1928). It is also known as the Cantonese Clique because many of ...

. The bank's name uses the word "communications" to refer to the linking of two points by a means of transportation. In order to expand the business overseas, the Bank opened its first

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

branch on 27 November 1934. In late July 1942, it lost its note-issuance privilege simultaneously as the

Bank of China The Bank of China (BOC; ; Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Banco da China'') is a state-owned Chinese Multinational corporation, multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Beijing, Beijing, China. It is one of ...

and the

Farmers Bank of China The Farmers Bank of China was a major bank in China, one of the "big four" banks of issue in the 1930s together with the Bank of China, Bank of Communications, and Central Bank of China. Overview The Farmers Bank was founded on in Hankou ( ...

, whereas the

Central Bank of China The Central Bank of the Republic of China (Taiwan), known from 1924 to 2007 as the Central Bank of China and still referred to under the acronym CBC, is the central bank of Taiwan. Originally founded in 1924 in Guangzhou, the CBC was expel ...

was granted the issuance monopoly in the territories still ruled by the Nationalist government. File:DeutschAsiatischeBund.png, Former building of the

Deutsch-Asiatische Bank The Deutsch-Asiatische Bank (DAB; ) was a foreign bank in Asia, founded in 1889 in Shanghai. Even though its owners were private-sector banks and its principal activity was trade financing, its role has been described as "quasi-governmental" in ...

the Bund The Bund is a waterfront area and a protected historical district in central Shanghai. The area centers on a section of Zhongshan Road (East Zhongshan Road No.1) within the former Shanghai International Settlement, which runs along the wester ...

, head office of the Bank of Communications from 1919 to the 1930s File:China Bank of Communications Building Shanghai.jpg, Bank of Communications Building, completed in 1948 on the same site, head office 1948-1949 File:北京交通银行旧址正立面 2021-09-03.jpg, Former Bank of Communications building in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

File:Jinan Bank of Communications 2009-08.JPG, Former branch building in

Jinan Jinan is the capital of the province of Shandong in East China. With a population of 9.2 million, it is one of the largest cities in Shandong in terms of population. The area of present-day Jinan has played an important role in the history of ...

File:交通银行青岛分行旧址 2021-06-16.jpg, Former branch building in

Qingdao Qingdao, Mandarin: , (Qingdao Mandarin: t͡ɕʰiŋ˧˩ tɒ˥) is a prefecture-level city in the eastern Shandong Province of China. Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, Qingdao was long an important fortress. In 1897, the city was ceded to G ...

File:南京中山路 - panoramio (5).jpg, Former branch building in

Nanjing Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yang ...

File:汉口交通银行旧址.JPG, Former branch building in

Wuhan Wuhan; is the capital of Hubei, China. With a population of over eleven million, it is the most populous city in Hubei and the List of cities in China by population, eighth-most-populous city in China. It is also one of the nine National cent ...

File:Chongqing Jiaotong Yinhang Jiuzhi 2014.04.21 12-18-03.jpg, Former branch building in

Chongqing ChongqingPostal Romanization, Previously romanized as Chungking ();. is a direct-administered municipality in Southwestern China. Chongqing is one of the four direct-administered municipalities under the State Council of the People's Republi ...

Continuation in Taiwan

After the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led Nationalist government, government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the forces of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Armed conflict continued intermitt ...

ended in 1949, the Bank of Communications, like the

, was effectively split into two operations, with part of it relocating to

with the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...

government. In Taiwan, the bank was also known as the Bank of Communications or Chiao Tung Bank (). It eventually merged with the

International Commercial Bank of China The Mega International Commercial Bank () is the second largest bank in Taiwan by tier 1 capital and a subsidiary of Mega Financial Holding Company. It has 108 branches (including foreign department) in Taiwan and 39 overseas units (excluding ...

(), the renamed Bank of China in Taiwan after its 1971 privatization, to become the

Re-establishment in the mainland

In the early years of the People's Republic, the bank's operations in the mainland were merged into the PBC and PCBC, while the Hong Kong branch continued to exist under the same name and was integrated in the so-called

Bank of China Group Bank of China Group (; 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). The exception was the Hong Kong b ...

. The State Council decided to re-establish the Bank of Communication as a mainland commercial bank in 1986. The Bank was then restructured and re-commenced operations on 1 April 1987. Since then, its Head Office has been located in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

. , 19.9% of the bank was owned by

Hsbc holdings plc HSBC Holdings plc ( zh, t_hk=滙豐; initialism from its founding member The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) is a British universal bank and financial services group headquartered in London, England, with historical and business li ...

. An HSBC spokeswoman said HSBC and its affiliate, the Bank of Communications, would seek to acquire a brokerage to expand their operations in China. The plan was part of HSBC's broader China expansion strategy, but "there is nothing further to disclose at the present." HSBC's operations in China include its own banking operations, its stake in BoCom, and an 8% stake in the

Bank of Shanghai Bank of Shanghai Co., Ltd. (BOSC) is an urban commercial bank based in Shanghai in China. The bank was ranked 73rd among 1000 banks around the world by ''The Banker'' in terms of their Tier 1 capital in 2020. History The Bank of Shanghai was fo ...

. HSBC also holds a 19.9% shares in

Ping An Insurance Ping An Insurance known also as Ping An of China (), full name Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. is a Chinese financial services holding company whose subsidiaries provide insurance, banking, asset management, financial services. ...

through its wholly-owned subsidiary HSBC Insurance Holdings. The ''

South China Morning Post The ''South China Morning Post'' (''SCMP''), with its Sunday edition, the ''Sunday Morning Post'', is a Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper owned by Alibaba Group. Founded in 1903 by Tse Tsan-tai and Alfred Cunningham, it has remaine ...

'' cited Peter Wong Tung-shun, executive director at

The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (), commonly abbreviated as HSBC and formerly known as HongkongBank (; styled ''Wayfoong'' by the bank), is the Hong Kong–based Asia-Pacific subsidiary of the HSBC banking group, for whi ...

, as saying that the acquisition is being considered in the light of the Chinese government's reforms of the country's securities brokerages. This includes a provision allowing foreign companies to get management control of brokerage firms. Wong did not provide a timetable for any acquisition or identify any acquisition target. The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp is a wholly owned HSBC subsidiary. On 22 July 2015, Bank of Communications sold $2.45 billion (about 14.93 billion yuan) of Basel III compliant bonds (convertible to preferred stock) "used to replenish the bank’s additional Tier 1 Capital." The bond is registered on the Hong Kong stock exchange and pays a coupon of 5 percent a year. File:Bank of Communications,xi'an,CHINA - panoramio (1).jpg, Bank of Communications in

Xi'an Xi'an is the list of capitals in China, capital of the Chinese province of Shaanxi. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong plain, the city is the third-most populous city in Western China after Chongqing and Chengdu, as well as the most populou ...

File:20210621 Bank of Communications Tower, Zhengzhou 02.jpg, Bank of Communications in

Zhengzhou Zhengzhou is the capital of Henan, China. Located in northern Henan, it is one of the nine National central city, national central cities in China, and serves as the political, economic, technological, and educational center of the province. Th ...

File:Bank Of Communications - panoramio.jpg, Bank of Communications in

File:位于山西路广场的交通银行 - panoramio.jpg, Bank of Communications Tower in

File:SZ 深圳 Shenzhen Bus 104 view 福田區 Futian 深南中路 Shennan Middle Road June 2017 IX1 12 花園格蘭雲天大酒店 Grand Skylight Garden Hotel Shenzhen.jpg, Bank of Communications Tower in

Shenzhen Shenzhen is a prefecture-level city in the province of Guangdong, China. A Special economic zones of China, special economic zone, it is located on the east bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of Guangdong ...

File:HK 香港島北 Island North 灣仔 Wan Chai District 鴻興道 Hung Hing Road view Gloucester Road buildings November 2020 SS2 06.jpg, Bank of Communications Tower in

(left) Image:HK Pedder Street BoCom Bus stop.jpg, A sub-branch of the

Bank of Communications Hong Kong Branch 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. As banks ...

Operations

The Bank of Communications is among the top 5 leading

commercial bank A commercial bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and gives loans for the purposes of consumption and investment to make a profit. It can also refer to a bank or a division of a larger bank that deals with whol ...

s in China and has an extensive network of over 2,800 branches covering over 80 major cities. Apart from Hong Kong, the Bank has also established overseas branches in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

and representative offices in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

. As of end-2002, the Bank had over 88,000 employees and a total

asset In financial accounting, an asset is any resource owned or controlled by a business or an economic entity. It is anything (tangible or intangible) that can be used to produce positive economic value. Assets represent value of ownership that can b ...

reaching

RMB The renminbi ( ; symbol: ¥; ISO code: CNY; abbreviation: RMB), also known as the Chinese yuan, is the official currency of the People's Republic of China. The renminbi is issued by the People's Bank of China, the monetary authority of Chin ...

5.15 trillion. Bank of Communications currently possesses 236 domestic organs, including 30 provincial branches, seven directly managed branches, 199 sub-branches managed by the provincial branches, with 3,529 network organs in over 239 large- and medium-sized cities. In addition, it has established 21 overseas organs including branch banks in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, and Ho Chi Minh City, BOCOMUK in

, and a representative office in Taipei. According to the ranking announced by the British journal "The Banker" concerning 1,000 worldwide banks in 2011, Bank of Communications ranked 35th for its tier l capital, entering the world's top 50 banks for two consecutive years. Among the World's Top 500 Enterprises listed by Fortune in 2018, Bank of Communications ranked 168th., up by three as compared with 2017 and entering the World's Top 500 Enterprises for ten straight years. Bank of Communications is one of the major financial service suppliers in China with its business scope covering commercial banking, securities, trust, financial leasing, fund management, insurance, offshore financial services, etc. In November 2023, Bank of Communications joined the ranks of global systemically important banks (

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC; zh, 中国工商银行) is a Chinese partially state-owned multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Beijing, China. It is the largest of the " big four" banks ...

(ICBC),

China Construction Bank The China Construction Bank Corporation (CCB) is a Chinese partially state-owned Multinational corporation, multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Beijing, Beijing, China. It is one of the "Big four banks, big ...

and

Agricultural Bank of China The Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), also known as AgBank, is a Chinese partially state-owned multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Beijing, China. It is one of the " big four" banks in China, and the second ...

), becoming the fifth on the too-big-to-fail list. Global systemically important banks (G-SIBs) are required to hold between 1% and 3.5% additional capital, depending on their rating. Bank of Communications' additional capital requirement is 1%.

Shareholders

*Note: H shares trustee: HKSCC Nominees Limited was excluded in the table

Leadership

* Hu Bijiang, chairman in the 1930s *

Chen Guodong Chen Guodong (; 15 September 1911 – 7 June 2005) was a member of the 12th and 13th Central Advisory Commission from Nanchang, Jiangxi. He was also known to be the former Shanghai CCP Shanghai Municipal Committee Secretary. Chen joined the ...

, chairman in the early 1950s * , chairman in the 1950s * , chairman 1987 - 1993 * , chairman October 1993 - November 1998 * , chairman November 1998 - June 2004 * Jiang Chaoliang, chairman January 2004 - September 2008 *

Hu Huaibang Hu Huaibang (; born 25 September 1955) is a Chinese former banker. He was chairman of the China Development Bank, a Fortune Global 500 company. He was expelled from the Chinese Communist Party in January 2020 and sentenced to life in prison in J ...

, chairman September 2008 - April 2013 * , chairman May 2013 - February 2018 * Peng Chun, chairman February 2018 - April 2019 * , chairman from April 2019 * Liu Jun, president since 2020

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bank Of Communications Companies listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange Companies in the CSI 100 Index Companies in the FTSE China A50 Index Companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange Banks of China Banks based in Shanghai Chinese brands Companies in the Hang Seng Index H shares HSBC Banks established in 1908 Chinese companies established in 1908 Re-established companies Government-owned banks of China 1908 in Beijing