Former Site of the Nationalist Government's Resources Commission

Former Site of the Nationalist Government's Resources Commission

The former site of the Nationalist Government's Resources Commission is a protected cultural heritage site of Nanjing.

The former site of the Nationalist Government's Resources Commission is located at No. 200 Zhongshan North Road (formerly No. 20 Hongqiao). In 1947, it was designed by the renowned architect Yang Tingbao. The building faces the southeast, has two floors, and features a Western modern architectural style, with a construction area of approximately 2,600 square meters. The main gate of the Resources Commission faces the southwest, and on the left and right inside the gate there were guardhouses (one of which has been damaged, leaving only the northern one remaining), which still retain a traditional Chinese palatial architectural style.

The predecessor of the Nationalist Government's Resources Commission was the National Defense Design Commission. In 1932, at the suggestion of Qian Changzhao and others, Chiang Kai-shek decided to establish a national defense design agency. On November 1 of the same year, the predecessor of the Nationalist Government's Resources Commission—the National Defense Design Commission—was officially established. In April 1935, the National Defense Design Commission merged with the Resources Department of the Military Affairs Commission to form the Resources Commission, which came under the direct jurisdiction of the Nationalist Government's Military Committee. Its main functions were threefold: first, research and investigation related to national functions; second, resource development; and third, resource mobilization. The Resources Commission had one Director-General (Chairman) and one Deputy Director-General (Vice Chairman).

In March 1938, the Resources Commission was placed under the Nationalist Government's Ministry of Economic Affairs, with Weng Wenhao serving as concurrent Director-General and Qian Changzhao as Deputy Director-General. In May 1946, the Resources Commission came directly under the Nationalist Government's Executive Yuan. Qian Changzhao served as Chairman, and Sun Yueqi as Vice Chairman. It successively established a Business Committee and four departments: Secretariat, Finance, General Affairs, and Accounting, as well as three offices: Advisory, Personnel, and Statistics. In addition, it also included the Mineral Product Evaluation Office, Invention and Creation Review Office, Industrial Regulations Research Office, Equipment Research and Review Office, Alcohol Business Office, Steel Business Office, Mining and Industry Planning Office, Hydropower Review Office, and Industrial Technology Office. By April 1947, the Resources Management Commission oversaw ten departments and 111 units in electricity, coal, petroleum, metal mines, steel, machinery industry, electrical industry, chemical industry, sugar production, and papermaking. There were basically no major changes until 1949. In April 1949, the Resources Commission was again placed under the Ministry of Economic Affairs. The current site is now the Hongqiao Campus of Nanjing Tech University.

After the liberation, the site was managed and used by Nanjing Tech University and is currently well preserved. In 2006, the former site of the Nationalist Government's Resources Commission was listed as a municipal-level cultural heritage protection site of Nanjing.