Chang Kia-ngau

Chang Kia-ngau
Born	Template:Birth date Jiading, near Shanghai, Qing dynasty
Died	October 13, 1979(1979-10-13) (aged 89) Palo Alto, California, United States
Other names	Gōngquán (courtesy name)
Occupation(s)	Banker, politician, scholar
Years active	1910–1979
Known for	Leadership of Bank of China; Minister of Railroads, Transportation, and Communications; advocate for independent central banking in China

Chang Kia-ngau (; November 13, 1889 – October 13, 1979), also known by his courtesy name Gōngquán (), was a distinguished Chinese banker, political figure, and scholar who played a significant role in shaping modern central banking in China.

Biography

Chang was born in 1889 in Jiading, close to Shanghai, into an intellectually prominent family; his grandfather held an official position during the Qing dynasty, and his father practiced medicine. He pursued financial studies at Tokyo's Keiō University. While his brother Carsun Chang was engaged in political affairs, Chang Kia-ngau established himself as a leading authority in Chinese banking.

His career in public service began in 1910 when he took on the role of editor-in-chief for the Official Gazette under the Ministry of Communications. By 1913, he had entered the banking sector as assistant manager at the Bank of China's Shanghai branch. He notably defied Yuan Shikai’s directive to cease silver redemption of banknotes, thereby maintaining public trust in the currency and enabling the bank to distance itself from Beiyang government dominance.

During the 1920s, Chang ascended to the leadership of the Bank of China, which by 1923 had shifted primarily into private ownership by Shanghai investors and emerged as the largest financial institution in Republican China. He opposed Kuomintang efforts to nationalize the bank and compel it to fund government deficits through bond acquisitions. When T. V. Soong sought control over the bank in 1928, Chang and the board resisted, leading Soong to create the Central Bank of China. Chang consented to support this new bank under conditions that preserved the Bank of China's autonomy and assigned it a key function as an international exchange bank. His priorities consistently favored national infrastructure development projects such as railroads, even when these ventures were not highly lucrative.

Throughout his leadership, Chang endeavored to protect the Bank of China from political manipulation and championed an independent central bank responsible for regulating monetary supply. In 1935, just before reforms replacing silver with fiat fabi currency were implemented, he was removed from his position and succeeded by T.V. Soong.

Subsequently, Chang held positions as Minister of Railroads and later Minister of Transportation. Throughout much of the Sino-Japanese War, he served as Minister of Communications, accompanying the government’s relocation from Nanjing to Chongqing. Beginning in mid-1943, he spent extensive time in the United States advocating for support to China and negotiating post-war agreements including aviation rights. He authored publications addressing railroad expansion and economic conditions in Manchuria.

After departing China, Chang joined Stanford University's Hoover Institution as a senior research fellow. He passed away in Palo Alto, California, in 1979. His wife, Chang Pihya, died there in 1997.

Works

• The Inflationary Spiral