Hankou Salt Industry Bank Building

Hankou Salt Industry Bank Building

The Hankou Salt Industry Bank Building is a cultural relic protection unit of Hubei Province.

The Hankou Salt Industry Bank Building is located on Zhongshan Avenue in Jiang’an District, Wuhan. Constructed in 1926, it is a five-story reinforced concrete structure covering a construction area of 6,699.43 square meters. It features a Western classical architectural style, with an exterior clad in granite, a double-columned portico on the facade, single columns on the sides, and a blend of classical column orders. After the Japanese occupied Wuhan, the command post of the Japanese Central China Area Army was once located here. The entire building is dignified and majestic, representing a fine example of Wuhan’s outstanding modern historical architecture.

Designed by the British design firm Jardine, Matheson & Co. (Jingming Foreign Firm), the building covers a construction area of 5,410 square meters and is a five-story steel-concrete structure in the European classical style. In 2007, when Wuhan constructed an under-river tunnel, many old buildings in the area were demolished, leaving only the old bank building standing alone in its original location.

The building’s exterior is clad in granite all the way up. The second and third floors feature six corridor columns: single columns on the sides and double columns in the middle. The fourth floor has a relatively wide upper cornice. The decoration is simple, yet the building remains dignified and majestic.

The Salt Industry Bank was founded in 1915 by Zhang Zhenfang, the brother-in-law of Yuan Shikai’s eldest brother Yuan Shichang. Along with the Jin Cheng Bank, Zhong Nan Bank, and Da Lu Bank, it was known as one of the “Four Northern Banks,” and was a nationally renowned Chinese bank during the Republican era, with financial influence extending across the region north of the Yangtze River. In 1917, Zhang Zhenfang participated in Zhang Xun’s restoration of the monarchy, was arrested, and the general manager was then replaced by Wu Dingchang, director of the Tianjin Mint. During this period, the bank had substantial business volume and attracted large deposits, earning a reputation as a bank with “Beiyang backing.”

During the War of Resistance against Japan, the bank building was forcibly occupied by the Japanese army and used as barracks. The bank resumed operations in 1945. In December 1952, it joined the public-private partnership and eventually ceased operations as it transitioned to the path of socialist finance.

It is now the Wuhan Guotong Branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.

Source: Hubei Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau

Further reading:

· Fifth Batch of Hubei Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units