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 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 ...

Bank of Communications Bank of Communications (BOCOM or BankComm) is a Chinese multinational banking and financial services corporation. It was originally established in 1908 and was one of a handful of domestic Chinese banks that issued banknotes in modern history. ...

, and Central Bank of China.

Overview

The Farmers Bank was founded on in

Hankou Hankou, alternately romanized as Hankow (), was one of the three towns (the other two were Wuchang and Hanyang) merged to become modern-day Wuhan city, the capital of the Hubei province, China. It stands north of the Han and Yangtze Rivers w ...

(modern day

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 ...

) from the amalgamation of provincial agricultural banks in

Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...

Hubei Hubei is a province of China, province in Central China. It has the List of Chinese provincial-level divisions by GDP, seventh-largest economy among Chinese provinces, the second-largest within Central China, and the third-largest among inland ...

Anhui Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...

and

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. Governed by the Farmers Bank of China Law, the bank was established to stimulate agricultural development by providing lines of credit to farmers and rural landowners. The loans were intended for use to purchase equipment and crops. The bank was initially under majority government ownership. The bank became one of the four major banks of the Nationalist era of China. Along with the Central Bank of China (currently the Central Bank of the Republic of China),

and

, the Farmers Bank of China was allowed to issue its own banknotes until late July 1942, when it lost its note-issuance privilege whereas the Central Bank of China was granted the issuance monopoly in the territories still ruled by the Nationalist government. The bank was relocated to

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 ...

in 1937, along with

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 ...

-led

Nationalist Government The Nationalist government, officially the National Government of the Republic of China, refers to the government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China from 1 July 1925 to 20 May 1948, led by the nationalist Kuomintang (KMT ...

during

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...

and relocated to the former Japanese colony of Taiwan in 1949 because of 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 ...

. However, it was not until May 20, 1967 that the bank resumed operations after relocating to Taiwan. The Government of the People's Republic of China incorporated the bank's assets in Mainland China 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 ...

, but later transferred these to the

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 ...

. From 1967 until 2006, the bank opened and operated 107 branches throughout Taiwan. It also operated overseas offices in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

. The Taiwanese government undertook a reform of the banking industry in 1992 with the listing of state-owned banks on the

stock exchange A stock exchange, securities exchange, or bourse is an exchange where stockbrokers and traders can buy and sell securities, such as shares of stock, bonds and other financial instruments. Stock exchanges may also provide facilities for ...

. The Farmers Bank of China was partially privatized in 1994, and all government shares were put on the market in 1999. Accordingly, the Farmers Bank of China Law was repealed by

Legislative Yuan The Legislative Yuan () is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China (Taiwan) located in Taipei. The Legislative Yuan is composed of 113 members, who are directly elected for four-year terms by people of the Taiwan Area through a ...

in 2005 to complete full privatization of the bank. The bank was the 14th largest lender in Taiwan until the bank was acquired by the

Taiwan Cooperative Bank The Taiwan Cooperative Bank (TCB; ) is a publicly listed bank headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan. Originally established in 1923 during Taiwan under Japanese rule, Japanese rule in Taiwan, TCB was reorganized in 1946 and has grown significantly s ...

() on May 1, 2006.

Former Chairmen

* Xie Dongmin () 1947-1952歷任董事長
* Li Lianchun () 1952-1972 * Hong Qiaorong () 1972-1978 * Ye Xinming () 1978-1981 * Zhang Xunshun () 1981-1988 * Xu Minhui () 1988-1991 * Luo Jitang () 1991-1994 * Bu Zhengming () Feb 1994 - Nov 1994 * Liao Hebi () 1994-1996 * Li Wenxiong () 1996-2001 * Liang Chengjin () 2001-2004 * Chen Zhong () 2004-2006

References

External links

*
Taiwan Cooperative Bank website
(archived 15 October 2011) *
Chronicles of the Farmers Bank of China
Banks of Taiwan Defunct banks of China Banks established in 1933 Chinese companies established in 1933 {{Taiwan-company-stub