He became governor of Guangzhou Central Bank from 1924 and resigned as chairman of Bank of China from 1944. In the past 20 years, Song Ziwen has occupied a dominant position in the financial field and the highest position in the banking industry in China.
Become the governor of the central bank
1928, 1 65438+1October,1,Shanghai Bund is crowded and very lively. VIPs from all walks of life of Nanjing government, foreign diplomatic envoys in Shanghai, and celebrities in financial circles, including Chiang Kai-shek, chairman of the National Government, came here one after another. At nine o'clock sharp, the grand opening ceremony of the central bank was held on the Bund 15.
This is the most important event in Shanghai financial circles after the establishment of Nanjing regime. The national government has been in operation for more than a year, and the lack of funds has delayed the establishment of the central bank. Until the completion of the second phase of the Northern Expedition in June 1928, Song Ziwen, Minister of Finance, made full preparations, held a national economic conference and a national financial conference for special discussion, presided over the formulation of regulations and articles of association, raised operating funds and selected the site of the Bund.
At the opening ceremony, Chiang Kai-shek personally sealed Song Ziwen, who was appointed as the governor of the Central Bank, and delivered a speech. In his reply, Song Ziwen emphasized that the central bank holds the highest financial power of the country and is directly under the national government. As a national bank, the central bank does not aim at profit, but unifies the national monetary system and the national treasury and regulates the national finance.
At a young age, he became the minister of finance and the governor of the central bank. Song Ziwen relies on strength, not just his status as an uncle of the two dynasties. Song Ziwen, who studied economics at Harvard University and Columbia University and worked in Citibank, returned to China in 19 17, and worked in Hanyeping Company and Shanghai financial circles for nearly six years. 1923 went south to take part in the revolution, served as Sun Yat-sen's English secretary, and began to step into politics, applying western financial theory to the practice in China.
1923 In April, Song Ziwen was appointed by Sun Yat-sen as the preparatory officer of the Central Bank. Subsequently, Song Ziwen drafted the regulations, articles of association and organizational rules of the Central Bank. In August of the following year, Guangzhou Central Bank opened, with Song Ziwen as its president, and Sun Yat-sen personally attended and spoke. After the Northern Expedition of the National Revolutionary Army into the Yangtze River Basin, Hankou Central Bank opened on June 1927+0, with Song Ziwen as its president.
The central banks in Guangzhou and Hankou have limited authority and are not national central banks. 1928, after Zhang Jiaao, general manager of Bank of China, refused to reorganize Bank of China into a central bank, Song Ziwen was responsible for preparing for the establishment of a new Nanjing government central bank.
Previously, the functions of the central bank were partly exercised by foreign banks in China-issuing currency, managing foreign debts, keeping taxes, and controlling foreign exchange and financial markets. Hubu Bank, which was established in the late Qing Dynasty, Daqing Bank, China Bank and Bank of Communications, which exercised the functions of central banks during the Beiyang government, all integrated the business of central banks and commercial banks, but the business of commercial banks expanded and the functions of central banks were not obvious.
After Song Ziwen became the governor of the central bank, he took a series of measures to strengthen the status of the central bank as a national bank: reorganizing China Bank and Bank of Communications into special banks chartered by the government for international exchange and industrial development, and taking a step of absolute control by the government over the two banks; Custody right to recover customs duties and salt taxes from foreign banks; Try to expand the central bank's currency circulation; Strengthen the supervision of general commercial banks ...
Wu Jingping, a historian who is famous for his study of Song Ziwen, said: "These measures of Song Ziwen are actually the beginning of the Kuomintang regime's control of the national financial industry, which has become an important prerequisite for the rapid expansion of bureaucratic capital in the future, and at the same time, it has truly established Song Ziwen's highest position in China's banking industry."
Become "China Morgan"
1In April, 933, Chiang Kai-shek, who advocated a strict budget system and a policy of issuing advances, clashed with Chiang Kai-shek, who crusaded against the West to expand military spending, and Song resigned as the governor of the Central Bank. At the end of 10, due to growing differences with Chiang Kai-shek on internal and external issues, Song Ziwen resigned as vice president of the Executive Yuan and finance minister, and both of them were succeeded by Kong Xiangxi.
After being frustrated politically, Song Ziwen decided to abandon his official position and go into business to find another way. He began to actively initiate the establishment of an investment bank-China Construction Bank Company. At that time, the most famous investment bank in the world was J.P. Morgan of the United States, and Song Ziwen expressed interest in becoming "China Morgan". When Song Ziwen was the vice president and finance minister of the Executive Yuan, he planned to set up an investment company by a Sino-foreign joint venture (except Japan), with 50% domestic investment and 50% foreign investment, and raised 654.38 billion yuan, but Japan strongly opposed and intervened. At this time, Song Ziwen changed its plan, consisting of domestic capital, and then managed to let foreign investment in specific projects after the company was established.
China Construction Bank Company claimed to be a "private commercial company", but its preparation was supported by Chiang Kai-shek and Kong Xiangxi. 1934 In the middle of April, during the preparation of the company, Kong Xiangxi, vice president of the Executive Yuan and Minister of Finance, told the media that Song Ziwen and himself would form a banking company with the capital of1000,000 yuan together with the Central Bank and the Bank of China, which is a financial institution dedicated to communicating Chinese and foreign investment and construction. On May 3 1, Song Ziwen convened a meeting of the sponsors of the company in Shanghai. The list of sponsors included the most famous financial tycoon in China at that time. Shareholders, directors and supervisors of the company are either senior financial officials of the government or giants of commercial banks. Major shareholders include 13 large Chinese banks including BOC, and BOC subscribes for one-fifth of the shares, that is, 2 million yuan; Minority shareholders include Song Ziwen, Kong Xiangxi and other politicians and financial celebrities, and Song Ziwen himself subscribed for 250,000 yuan.
According to Zhang Jiaxuan, Song Ziwen originally planned to be the chairman and his younger brother Zi An as the general manager. Later, Chiang Kai-shek was appointed as the chairman and his disciple Liang as the general manager. However, no matter what happens, Executive Director Song Ziwen is still the decision maker. Therefore, this company jointly organized by government and business is regarded as the cause of the Song family.
Before the outbreak of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, silver companies entered the domestic securities market, handled stamp duty and subscribed for corporate bonds; Introduce and innovate foreign investment to build railways such as Shanghai-Hangzhou-Ningbo Railway; Participate in enterprise investment, and do a good job in all businesses. Liang Shiyi, who was called "China Morgan" by Rui Enshi, the American ambassador to China during the Beiyang period, joined more than ten banks in Beijing to set up an investment company-Bank of China Company around 1920 to raise government bonds and corporate bonds. However, the capital of Chinese banks was limited at that time, and there were few substantial investment activities after the establishment of BOC. With his talents, government support and extensive contacts, Song Ziwen turned China Construction Bank Company into what he called "the first real investment company in China".
Chairman of Bank of China.
For Song Ziwen, taking charge of the Bank of China is another strong rise of the financial industry.
1935 In April, Song Ziwen became the chairman of the Bank of China, and the financial dynasty he managed opened a new world. Subsequently, Song Ziwen put more energy into the largest bank in China.
As early as 1928, Song Ziwen had planned to reorganize the powerful Bank of China into the central bank, but Zhang Jiaao declined. In recent years, under the management of Zhang Jiaxuan, BOC has continued to maintain relatively independent development.
With the intensification of the silver wave since 1934, banks have a hard time, and the real economy has a hard time, complaining that banks are unwilling to lend. 1in March, 935, Chiang Kai-shek, Kong Xiangxi and Song Ziwen held secret talks in Hankou, and thought that in order to reverse the financial panic and financial difficulties, it was necessary to strengthen the control of the powerful Bank of China and make it absolutely subordinate to the central authorities.
Chiang Kai-shek sent a secret telegram to Kong Xiangxi on March 22nd, claiming that the country and society were on the verge of bankruptcy. The crux lies in the fact that the financial and monetary system and distribution cannot be unified. The key is that the two banks adhere to the policy of absorbing the essence of the country and the people. If we continue to correct it, the revolution will be desperate.
Taking advantage of the industry's demand for the government to "rescue the market", the Nanjing government quickly increased its official shares in Bank of China and Bank of Communications and nationalized them. At the same time, Zhang Jiaao was ousted and Song Ziwen took charge of the Bank of China.
Song Ziwen announced at the press conference that the future management policy of Bank of China will remain unchanged, "completely commercialized, eliminating all bureaucratic habits, striving for international exchanges and focusing on import and export trade".
Song Ziwen came to BOC alone, presided over the drafting of business promotion plans, formulated performance appraisal standards, and strengthened the business assessment of bankers, in an effort to further develop BOC's business. At the same time, Song Ziwen, as the chairman of the Bank of China, actively participated in the far-reaching 1935 currency system reform carried out by the National Government and played a core role.
With the continuous development of China's banking business, Song Ziwen is increasingly using the funds of China Bank to infiltrate and control the national financial industry and industry and commerce. After the Silver Tide, Song Ziwen invested in a number of high-quality crisis private enterprises, such as Guangdong Bank and Nanyang Brothers Tobacco Company, whose family members were the actual controllers. The economic crisis and the constant war make the government's control policy of intervening in the economy become the main theme of the times. The trend of government intervention and economic development also dominates Song Ziwen's financial measures. China Bank has invested in such a wide range of enterprises, covering financial and insurance, industrial and mining, agriculture, forestry, water conservancy, transportation and other fields, covering all parts of the country.
1944 In February, Song Ziwen, as the foreign minister, resigned as the chairman of the Bank of China, ending the history of holding a powerful position in financial institutions.
Song Ziwen, who received systematic training in western economics, left a deep impression on the innovative development of China's financial industry. At the same time, with China Bank and China Construction Bank as fulcrums, Song Ziwen has greatly expanded its state monopoly capital and its own pockets.
(The writer is a journalist and historian.)