Bank of China Ltd.

Bank of China was founded in 1912 as the central bank of the Republic of China by order of Sun Yat-sen, the leader of the 1911 revolution. Since the People's Republic of China was established in 1949, it has served as the sole bank that specializes in foreign exchange transactions. Among four major state-owned banks in China, Bank of China has the largest presence in the country's international banking operations.

The bank is the forefront of the government's efforts to internationalize its currency, the yuan. In Hong Kong, Frankfurt and other financial centers across the globe, the bank functions as clearing house of the currency. The bank is also the issuer of overseas yuan-denominated bonds.

In 2006, Bank of China was listed on Hong Kong Stock Exchange in June and on Shanghai Stock Exchange in July.

Tian Guoli has served as Chairman of the bank since May 2013. His prior positions include vice chairman at Citic Group and assistant executive president at China Construction Bank. In September 2014, Tian announced a program to convert the bank's 58,000 temporary workers to permanent employees. It was a groundbreaking move in the country, where temp workers are becoming major source of manpower.