Jiefang Road Financial Street

Jiefang Road Financial Street

The North Jiefang Road Financial Street is adjacent to the Haihe River, starting from Jiefang Bridge in the northwest and extending southeast to Xuzhou Road, where it connects with South Jiefang Road. In modern Chinese history, this area was once home to a concentration of foreign banks and was known as the "Wall Street of the East." It remains one of Tianjin’s key hubs for financial institutions today. The area boasts a rich collection of historic architecture, with dozens of well-preserved buildings, most of which are over a century old. Visitors here can sense the development of Tianjin’s and even China’s financial industry throughout the modern era.

The Tianjin Financial City project, centered around North Jiefang Road, has officially been launched. It aims to create an open, intelligent comprehensive financial service district. The planned construction area of the Financial City spans 2.1 million square meters, encompassing seven major sectors including finance, insurance, and securities. It will be divided into areas such as the Financial Trading Service Zone, Financial Plaza, Business Apartment Zone, and Hotel Zone.

This is a street that records a century of Tianjin’s changes.

Its name is a piece of history. The French called it Rue de France, the British called it Victoria Road, and because it runs through both the British and French Concessions, located at their center, it was also known as "Middle Street." Today, it is called North Jiefang Road. But for over a hundred years, people have preferred to refer to it by its functional characteristic—as the "Financial Street." Some even call it the "Wall Street of Northern China."

After enduring a century of winds and rains, most of the financial buildings along this 2,300-meter-long street and its surrounding area have retained their original appearance. They record the glorious history of the financial street over the past hundred years and also bear witness to its historical transformations. Today, there are still 26 permanent financial institutions here, including the People's Bank of China and the Tianjin branches of seven Chinese banks such as Bank of China, making this area a hub of financial institutions in Tianjin and a nationally renowned financial street.

As a financial hub in Tianjin and even Northern China, the history of this street dates back to the mid-19th century.

In 1860, Britain and France successively built roads and structures within their concessions in Tianjin. Starting from the Wan Guo Qiao (also known as the French Bridge, now Jiefang Bridge) in the French Concession, they extended a major transportation artery southward, running through both concessions and forming the central area of the British and French Concessions—then the political and economic hub of the foreign settlements.

Subsequently, various banks, insurance companies, foreign trading firms, and shipping companies established offices in Tianjin to engage in commerce and trade. In 1880 (the sixth year of the Guangxu reign in the Qing Dynasty), the British Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) was the first foreign bank to set up operations in Tianjin, opening here in 1882 (the eighth year of Guangxu).

From the late 19th century to the early 20th century, more than ten foreign banks were established along Middle Street in the British and French Concessions.

Due to the concentration of foreign banks, some larger foreign trading firms and insurance companies also rushed to establish businesses here.

In the late Qing Dynasty and early Republican period, new types of Chinese banks gradually emerged and gathered here. By 1937, this street had become a well-known financial center in Northern China.

After the liberation of Tianjin in January 1949, foreign banks gradually withdrew from the city, and the Tianjin branch of the People's Bank of China was established on North Jiefang Road. Following the reform and opening-up in 1978, Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, China Construction Bank, and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China successively set up their Tianjin branches here.

The buildings on the financial street are uniquely distinctive. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, most bank buildings here were constructed from reinforced concrete and materials such as marble, granite, and red bricks, adopting classical revival architectural styles. They featured grand front colonnades, presenting an elegant and dignified atmosphere that conveyed solemnity, stability, and gravity. After the 1930s, buildings mostly used concrete, with sleek designs and enhanced modern functionality. From the 1980s onward, newly built high-rise bank buildings reflected urban sophistication and the style of the times. Equipped with modern multifunctional facilities, they marked the new development of modern finance.

In 2006, the Tianjin Municipal Government formulated a plan to invest 14.5 billion RMB in the construction of Tianjin Financial City, centered around North Jiefang Road. The Financial City covers an area of 113 hectares, with planned new construction covering 1.3 million square meters, the restoration and preservation of 800,000 square meters of historic buildings, and the improvement of supporting infrastructure such as roads and pipelines. The historic financial street is being reborn.