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Chapter 24 Bank of China

At the entrance of Xijiaomin Lane (then known as Fandi West Road) on the west side of Tiananmen Square, the People's Insurance Company of China, the Bank of China and the People's Bank of China are lined up in sequence facing south.This is one of the highest-level insurance institutions and two major financial institutions in China.I even dispatched three squads to be responsible for the security of the Big Three in my country's financial and insurance industries. At that time, the three office buildings were all Western-style buildings and relatively old, but the inner quality was still solid and solid.According to the severity of the security tasks of the guard target, all board and lodging are in the compound of the People's Bank of China, and most of the training and exercises are in the South Campus (deputy office area) of the People's Insurance Company of China.

In the 1970s, the insurance business was relatively unfamiliar to Chinese people, and people rarely set foot in it.The People's Insurance Company of China mainly undertakes some foreign business, so it is neglected in front of the door, with few people coming and few leaving.But in front of the Bank of China, which is adjacent to it, there is a lot of traffic, and it is busy going in and out.This is not only because the Bank of China is the highest authority in managing foreign currency exchange, but also because the Foreign Currency Exchange Department of the General Management Office of the Bank of China is the only unit that accepts foreign currencies in Beijing.In addition, since Nixon's visit to China in February 1972, state guests came to China one after another, and batch after batch of foreign friends poured into China, the big eastern country that opened its doors.Together with the staff of foreign embassies who are resident in Beijing, a huge "foreign legion" suddenly gathered in the capital.So many foreigners need money for their daily food, drink, housing, use, and travel, and the money must be converted into Chinese renminbi with their own currency before it can be circulated and used in our country.To exchange money, you have to go to the foreign currency exchange hall of the General Management Office of the Bank of China to exchange. This is the main reason for the busy business of the foreign currency exchange hall of the Bank of China.

The General Management Office of the Bank of China is a small off-white building facing the street, and the foreign currency exchange hall is located on the first floor.When foreign guests come here, they can park their cars on the side of the road and go up five or six steps to enter the hall.In the hall, the clean marble floor reflects people and things, the white walls are spotless, the white white marble counter is bright and trendy, and various decorative lights complement each other, showing the elegance and delicacy of this foreign-related place everywhere. Our sentry post is set outside the hall door, and can also stand in the hall according to the needs of the mission. It is mainly responsible for the safety of foreign guests exchanging coins, especially large-value coins, when they get off the bus to enter the hall, and when they leave the hall to board the car, preventing irrelevant personnel from entering the hall and ensuring The safety of Chinese and foreign coins in the hall.

Most of the people who go to the lobby to exchange coins are embassy staff driving embassy vehicles.The license plates of these vehicles all have eye-catching red letters at the beginning, and you can tell that they are embassy vehicles at a glance.In order to identify which country's embassy's vehicle it is, so that we can know it well, so as to facilitate the successful completion of the security mission, we all memorized the vehicle numbers of the embassies of various countries in Beijing.At that time, embassies in China had vehicles from more than 70 countries, and it was very troublesome to remember.At that time, the concept of friend and enemy was very strong. If the car number was a friendly country, the attitude would be kind; otherwise, the expression would be serious, neither humble nor overbearing.The embassy personnel of North Korea, Albania, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and other countries would smile and say hello when they saw the sentinels.

The sentries who stand in front of the foreign currency exchange hall will find an interesting thing, that is, due to the different wealth and poverty of the country, the time for currency exchange is divided into three types: frequent visits, visits after a period of time and visits after a long period of time. situation.Those who often come are those third world countries, such as Mali, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Zambia in Africa... Laos, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Indonesia, Pakistan, Vietnam, Philippines in Asia... After a while, the second Middle-income countries in the world, such as Romania, Iraq, Iran, Mexico, Singapore, Yugoslavia, Sweden, Switzerland... For a long time, the rich and richest countries in the first world, such as the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, Italy, Spain, Germany, Japan, the United States, Canada, etc. "Reference News" once published an article in Hong Kong's "Ming Pao" entitled "Five Levels of Rich and Poor Countries in the World".The article pointed out: In 1977, the World Bank divided the population into the poorest, the poor, the middle, the rich, and the richest according to their average annual income.Countries (or regions) whose average annual income is less than 200 US dollars are listed as the poorest countries; those with an annual average income of less than 200 US dollars are listed as poor countries; Countries between the US dollar and US$4,990 are listed as rich; those above US$5,000 are listed as the richest countries.The poorest and poorest countries listed by the World Bank according to the above criteria are basically consistent with the embassies of countries that often exchange foreign currency that we see on the post; The embassies of the countries listed are basically the same; and the rich and richest countries listed are basically the same as the embassies of countries that we have seen for a long time to exchange foreign currency.This shows that the economic strength of a country's embassy is directly related to the country's wealth and wealth.Embassies in rich countries have money, and they don't care about the constant exchange rate changes brought about by the legal gold content of each country's currency determined by the international foreign exchange market at any time, which affects the increase or decrease of the domestic currency after it is converted into RMB.So when they come, they often bring a few large boxes of national currency, and when they leave, they also carry a few large boxes of RMB, and they are also arrogant in the aisles, showing their wealth.That's why they come to exchange money for a long time.The embassies of middle-income countries are more than enough, and more than enough. They often choose a day that is favorable for them to exchange RMB according to their actual needs, and they don’t change too much each time. They do not store too much RMB in their hands, so as to avoid losses due to appreciation of the domestic currency when it is converted into RMB.This is the reason for its currency exchange over a period of time.

Judging from the above two sheets I kept (the former one was in the army, the latter one was pasted back to the place) exchange rates of RMB against major foreign currencies, it can be seen that April 1, 1976 and April 17, 1981, which was five years apart Therefore, the buying and selling prices of RMB and foreign currencies are very different.Take the U.S. dollar as an example. On April 1, 1976, for 100 U.S. dollars, the buying price of RMB was 195.93 yuan, and the selling price was 196.91 yuan.On April 17, 1981, the buying price of RMB dropped to 167.14 yuan, and the selling price also dropped to 167.98 yuan.The same is 100 pounds. On April 1, 1976, the buying price of RMB was 367.72 yuan, and the selling price was 378.60 yuan. On April 17, 1981, the buying price of RMB was 361.78 yuan, and the selling price was 363.60 yuan.And at the same two times mentioned above, the buying price of 100,000 yen in the former time was 651.51 yuan, and the selling price was 654.83 yuan; while in the latter time, the buying price of RMB rose to 769.73 yuan, and the selling price also rose to 773.59 yuan. Yuan.This shows that the exchange rate of different countries' currencies is different in different periods due to the rise and fall of the currency value and the exchange rate of RMB. Therefore, embassies of middle-income countries still pay attention to the trading price of RMB in different periods and exchange a certain amount of RMB when they choose the opportunity.For most embassies of poor countries in China, they are concerned about the daily changes in the exchange between their national currency and RMB. They are afraid that the RMB they exchanged will not be used up, and the exchange rate of their national currency to RMB will suddenly increase in value, so they would rather travel more. It is also necessary to capture favorable information and opportunities from the continuous subtle changes, obtain a small win, and avoid a small loss.They only exchanged a small amount of money each time they came, sometimes every other day, sometimes in the morning and again in the afternoon. They were a little embarrassed to see our sentry, but they still greeted the sentry in proficient or blunt Chinese.No matter who is on duty, each of our sentries will treat these familiar embassy friends from poor countries with courtesy, without any intention of disdain, and make them very happy when they come and go.

In the foreign currency exchange work, the People's Bank of China and the Bank of China also attach great importance to collecting foreign exchange market quotations in various places, so as to make the currency exchange work perfect and perfect without leaving any mistakes.When I was on duty in the foreign currency exchange hall of the Bank of China, I kept a London foreign exchange market quotation issued by the head office of the People's Bank of China and a foreign exchange market quotation issued by the General Management Office of the Bank of China. Judging from the above two quotation tables, the People's Bank of China's "London Market Foreign Exchange Quotation Table for December 1972" reflects the daily foreign exchange price of 1 British pound against major foreign currencies in January. The foreign exchange price of China is different almost every day, so it is necessary to master the daily foreign exchange market.However, the "Capitalist Foreign Exchange Market Quotation Table" of the General Management Office of the Bank of China reflects the foreign exchange market quotations in London, Paris, Frankfurt, and Zurich on December 14, 1973.This table reflects more detailed and comprehensive foreign exchange market conditions around the world.

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