OREANDA-NEWS. November 13, 2012. ICBC, Taiwan SinoPac Holdings and National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall jointly hosted the opening ceremony of the "Remittance Corridors Around the World - From Old-Fashioned Private Bank to Modern Bank" Exhibition ("Exhibition"). The bank artefacts displayed in the Exhibition are gathered from Mainland China and Taiwan. Guests at the opening ceremony were: Lien Chan, the Honorary Chairman of China Kuomintang; Jiang Jianqing, the Chairman of ICBC; Ho Show-Chung, the Chairman of SinoPac Holdings, reported the press-centre of ICBC. 

On this grand occasion, the small selection of rare artefacts from banks in Mainland China and Taiwan on display already included balance-type scale, silver currency (50 taels) issued by Ta Ching Government Bank, steel plate (for money printing) made by American Bank Note Company for Chinese banks, gold bullion in the shape of persimmon, touchstone and gold medallion, gold powder box from SinoPac Bank. Just a few more days the Exhibition will be open to Taiwan public starting from November 3 at the National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Chairman Jiang Jianqing said going through the magnificent financial history, culture plays an important role for banks to take each step and intertwine in every innovation, every challenge. ICBC is dedicated to the building of a strong corporate culture focusing on the protection of Chinese traditional financial culture and spreading of excellent financial culture through strong support to cultural events. The Exhibition, organized by ICBC in collaboration with Taiwan SinoPac Holdings and National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, is a new attempt to build a bridge for banks from Mainland China and Taiwan to celebrate and record China's banking heritage.

"Remittance Corridors Around the World - From Old-Fashioned Private Bank to Modern Bank" Exhibition is jointly organized by ICBC, SinoPac Holdings and National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall. The 600+ bank artefacts gathered from Mainland China and Taiwan are designed to appeal to those interested in the history of banks across the Straits derived from the same origin. Out of the collection in ICBC Bank Museum which features more than 30,000 bank artefacts, ICBC chooses the most representative 550 for this Exhibition in Taiwan to display the history of Mainland China's financial culture.

The exhibits include ancient coins of China, currency used by foreign (Joint Venture) financial institutions in China in early period, currency used by Chinese financial institutions from end of the 19th century to middle of the 20th century, renminbi notes and coins, gold/silver memorable coins nowadays, bills used by financial institutions in early period, balance, scales and appliances used by banks in olden days. Many of them are very rare. The artefacts record the financial history from a unique artistic perspective. They vividly reveal the reform and progress of Chinese banks, the changes in everyday banking of people, with high artistic value and rich historical connotation. The 550 artefacts, traveling all the way across the Taiwan Strait to display with the artefacts from banks in Taiwan, will enable Taiwan people to understand the history of China's financial culture and the essence of financial culture across the Strait. In 2007, Bank Museum's exhibition in Hong Kong elicited wide interest, adding a full chapter to Hong Kong's financial history.

Industry insiders comment that bank artefacts are the most vivid memory that bear witness to the banking history. By keeping and appreciating them, people can go back to the history and get insight for the future. The Exhibition provides an opportunity for banks in Mainland China and Taiwan to get a deeper understanding on the development of financial culture. Taiwan and Mainland China move forward respectively but closely cooperate occasionally. Against this backdrop, the Exhibition will facilitate banks across the Strait to foster closer ties on a common ground.

Being the largest commercial bank in China and most influential in the world, ICBC remains committed to promote the exchange and cooperation with banks in Taiwan. By working with financial institutions in Taiwan, ICBC offers top-rated financial services to Taiwanese companies, setting the trend for banks from Mainland China and Taiwan to cooperate. From 2009 till today, ICBC has extended credit to 2700 Taiwanese companies totaling more than RMB 290 billion. For the period ending first half of this year, ICBC has established correspondent banking relationship with 39 banks in Taiwan and handled 95000+ international settlements involving a total of USD 28.7 billion.

Given the booming economic and trade across the Strait, banks from Mainland China and Taiwan working together will be one of most thriving business areas of huge potential. In particular, the gathering pace of renminbi for trade settlements and the signing of Memorandum of Understanding on Currency Clearing Across the Strait will drive the leap-frog growth of RMB settlements and business volume. In the next step, ICBC will strengthen the cooperation with banks from Taiwan leveraging own domain expertise. The goal is to complement each other and achieve win-win and promote the prosperity of financial sector in Mainland China and Taiwan.