Entity
Former Site of Banque de l'Indochine in Hankou
Wuhan, Hubei, China
In 1901, French financiers established the Hankou branch of the Banque de l'Indochine on Rue President Wilson, directly opposite the American Consulate General. Completed in 1902, this two-story brick-and-timber structure, with a basement level, served as a financial hub for French colonial interests along the Yangtze River.
The building stands on a heavy ashlar stone base, supporting a South Asian colonial verandah layout that wraps around the exterior. On the ground floor, an open verandah welcomed the river breeze. Above it, a closed verandah on the first floor is bordered by balustrades of green glazed ceramic balusters. The facade displays a tripartite composition in the late Renaissance style, built with red brick bare-faced (qing shui qiang) walls. The builders shaped the semi-circular arches and matching pilasters using specially molded curved bricks, capping them with decorative keystones. Overhead, a four-slope roof rests on a heavy wooden truss, covered in machine-made red tiles.
Inside these rooms, Liu Xinsheng, a prominent local real estate tycoon, operated as the bank's comprador starting in 1902. Liu secured low-interest loans from the French institution, which he then channeled into his own enterprises through his Fu Chang native bank. The compound expanded in 1920 with auxiliary buildings, eventually encompassing three structures and forty-eight rooms.
The bank continued to operate through decades of political upheaval, including the Japanese occupation, until it closed in 1949. In 2010, the Agricultural Bank of China invested over 20 million RMB to restore the structure. Craftsmen carefully preserved the original brick carvings on the pilasters, window surrounds, and cornices. Today, the building serves as a high-end financial club for the Agricultural Bank of China, preserving the material memory of Hankou's concession era. Designated as a Hubei Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Unit in 2025, the structure stands as a testament to the city's layered history.