Former Site of Donghe Printing Company

Former Site of Donghe Printing Company

The Former Site of Donghe Printing Company is a cultural relic protection unit of Sichuan Province.

Former Site of Donghe Printing Company

According to records: In 1965, under the national “Third Front Construction” initiative, the State Council decided to establish a new currency printing enterprise in Wangcang, the former site of the Sichuan-Shaanxi Soviet Area Mint. This enterprise later became the Donghe Printing Company. From 1970 to 1990, the Donghe Printing Company cumulatively printed 7 varieties of RMB banknotes, 7 varieties of foreign aid banknotes, and 3 varieties of treasury bonds, totaling 13.8213 billion notes. The RMB 5-yuan and 2-yuan notes were printed by the Donghe Company. In 1993, due to restructuring and relocation, the Donghe Printing Company ended its historical mission of printing RMB and other banknotes in Wangcang. With the removal of its plaque as a Class I State Secret Unit, the site of the Donghe Printing Company gradually shed its air of mystery.

Public information shows that the Donghe Printing Company covered an area of 750,000 square meters, employed over 3,000 workers, and had four factories: currency printing, papermaking, thermal power, and machinery manufacturing with precious metals. It was a large-scale comprehensive printing enterprise affiliated with the China Banknote Printing and Minting Corporation under the People's Bank of China. Primarily focused on producing the country’s legal tender, it also integrated anti-counterfeiting printing, production of special-purpose paper, gold and silver refining, precious metal processing, power and heat generation, and mechanical processing. In recent years, the Wangcang County Party Committee, County Government, and relevant departments have placed great importance on the excavation and protection of urban historical and cultural heritage. The long-dormant site of the Donghe Printing Company has now been included within the protection scope of the “Wangcang County Historic and Cultural City Protection Plan (2017–2035).”

Years: 1964–1993

In 2012, the Former Site of Donghe Printing Company was designated as part of the Eighth Batch of Provincial-Level Cultural Relic Protection Units by the People's Government of Sichuan Province.

Further Reading:

· Eighth Batch of Provincial-Level Cultural Relic Protection Units in Sichuan Province