The Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) (simplified Chinese: 中国农业银行; traditional Chinese: 中國農業銀行; pinyin: Zhōngguó Nóngyè Yínháng) is the one of the "Big Four" banks in the People's Republic of China. It was founded in 1949, and has its headquarters in Beijing and has branches throughout mainland China, and also in Hong Kong and Singapore. It employs over 300,000 people. As of 2004 it had an annual turnover of US$13.3 billion. By the end of 2005, the Agricultural Bank of China became the second largest bank in China in terms of total assets, which had hit 4.88 trillion yuan (US$605 billion), second only to the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC).2
After establishment of the People's Republic of China, ABC has been formed and abolished several times. In 1951, two banks of the Republic of China, Farmers Bank of China and Cooperation Bank, merged to form Agricultural Cooperation Bank, which ABC regards as its precedent. However, the bank was merged into People's Bank of China, the central bank in 1952. The first bank bearing the name Agricultural Bank of China was founded in 1955, but was again, merged into the central bank in 1957. In 1963, Chinese government formed another agricultural bank, and it was merged into the central bank two years later. Today's ABC was founded in February, 1979.
Beijing, People's Republic of China
