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Seventeen years on the streets, living and working with the people of China, Jeff
For donations, print books, ebooks and audiobooks, please see at the bottom of this page
My introduction
Chinese money goes way, way back
I wrote The China Trilogy, which is choker-block full of fascinating Sino-history, going back 5,000 years (https://www.amazcon.com/stores/author/B00TX0TDDI/allbooks).
In historical Chinese cities, like Pingyao, in Shanxi, Province and Kaifeng, in Henan Province, there will often be museums dedicated to the history of money, from the Zhou Dynasty in 1,000BC up to the present. They are very popular with the tourists and the section on the communists establishing China’s first people-owned, national bank is always interesting. All of China’s banks are still people-owned to this day, as is its central bank. No Talmud-Tanakh City of London usury allowed in Sinoland!
Above: the Chinese don’t have US President Andrew Jackson’s problem, of fighting usurious, Judeo-banksters. All their banks are people-owned. This cartoon is from 1836. The financial rape of suffering Western citizens has been going on for 3,000 years, ever since Abraham fled Mesopotamia to wander around Palestine.
It’s not just money, honey
The Chinese have been at the forefront of finance and banking going back 5,000 years. This article explains that the world’s four biggest banks in assets are communist Chinese, with a broad overview of why and how China’s financial sector works so well. When you cut out all the Judeo-usurers from the picture, great things happen for the people.
“So Called” Communist China, by Jeff J. Brown, in the All China Review 20170513
Here are the latest 2025 global banking stats
🏦 Top 10 Largest Banks by Total Assets (2025)
Figures in USD millions
| Rank | Bank | Country | Total Assets |
|——|——|———|————-|
| 1 | **ICBC** | China | $6,688,735M (~$6.7T) |
| 2 | **Agricultural Bank of China** | China | $5,923,763M (~$5.9T) |
| 3 | **China Construction Bank** | China | $5,558,377M (~$5.6T) |
| 4 | **Bank of China** | China | $4,803,510M (~$4.8T) |
| 5 | **JPMorgan Chase** | USA | $4,002,814M (~$4.0T) |
| 6 | **Bank of America** | USA | $3,261,519M (~$3.3T) |
| 7 | **HSBC Holdings** | UK | $3,017,048M (~$3.0T) |
| 8 | **BNP Paribas** | France | $2,800,402M (~$2.8T) |
| 9 | **MUFG** (Mitsubishi UFJ) | Japan | $2,758,725M (~$2.8T) |
| 10 | **Crédit Agricole Group** | France | $2,693,578M (~$2.7T) |
Source: TAB Insights AB1000 2025; S&P Global Market Intelligence
🏆 Top 10 Most Profitable Banks by Net Income (2025)
Based on FY2024 financial results, figures in USD millions
| Rank | Bank | Country | Net Profit |
|——|——|———|———–|
| 1 | **JPMorgan Chase** | USA | $58,471M |
| 2 | **ICBC** (Industrial & Commercial Bank of China) | China | $51,011M |
| 3 | **China Construction Bank (CCB)** | China | $46,749M |
| 4 | **Agricultural Bank of China (ABC)** | China | $39,296M |
| 5 | **Bank of China (BOC)** | China | $35,132M |
| 6 | **Bank of America** | USA | $27,132M |
| 7 | **HSBC Holdings** | UK | $24,999M |
| 8 | **China Merchants Bank** | China | $20,791M |
| 9 | **Wells Fargo** | USA | $19,965M |
| 10 | **Banco Santander** | Spain | $14,869M |
Source: TAB Insights AB1000 2025, based on 2024 financial statements with March 2025 cut-off
🔑 Key Observations:
1. Chinese dominance in assets: Four of the world’s five largest banks by assets are Chinese people-owned institutions, reflecting China’s massive domestic banking sector and government-backed expansion.
2. US leadership in profitability: Despite having smaller asset bases than Chinese megabanks, US banks like JPMorgan Chase lead in net profit due to higher returns on assets (ROA ~1.4% vs. ~0.7-0.8% for Chinese banks).
Modern money is modern technology
Be sure to look at my China-Tech database, download and print the large-format PDF table that shows the lag times between Chinese innovation and when it was later adopted in the Judeo-West. For non-Chinese, it is very humbling to see.
China-Tech’s History to the Present
Thanks to my good friend and comrade, China Writer Wei Ling Chua (https://www.amazon.com/stores/Wei-Ling-Chua/author/B00G3SWQZ0) for finding this, with his comments
Note that:
1) the world first coin is from China Zhou Dynasty (1000BC): 3000 years ago.
2) world First digital currency (yuan) in the 21st century with interest incentive is also from China.
3) China is also recognized as the first nation to create paper currency, with its usage beginning more than 600 years before it appeared in the West.
While Europe did not adopt paper money until the 17th century (Sweden in 1661), China introduced paper-based currency as early as the 7th century, with it becoming widespread in the 11th century.
Key Facts on the Origins of Paper Money
- Initial “Flying Money” (7th–9th Century AD): During the Tang Dynasty (618–907), merchants began using “flying money” (fei qian)—a type of promissory note or receipt of deposit designed to avoid carrying heavy copper coins over long distances.
- First Official Paper Money (11th Century AD): The Song Dynasty (960–1279) was the first to officially issue paper money, known as jiaozi, in the 11th century to facilitate trade and address copper shortages.
- Widespread Use (13th Century AD): By the time Marco Polo visited during the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368), paper money was the primary currency.
- Comparison to the West: The first European bank to issue banknotes was Sweden’s Stockholms Banco in 1661, roughly 600 to 700 years after China’s initial widespread use of jiaozi.
This innovation allowed China to manage large transactions far more efficiently than the contemporaneous Western reliance on metallic coins.
#FunFact The world’s first paper money was created in China during …
4 Mar 2024 — #FunFact The world’s first paper money was created in China during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD). These early banknotes were initially used as a convenient alte… Facebook
The First Paper Money – Top 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Money – TIME
The First Paper Money. … Paper bills were first used by the Chinese, who started carrying folding money during the Tang Dynasty (A.D. 618-907) — mostly in the… Time Magazine
China invented paper money in 7th century – Facebook
27 Jan 2026 — Imagine a world without coins! 🤯 China revolutionized finance by inventing paper money in the 7th century, a whopping 500+ years before Europe caught on. A tru…
Facebook Fiat money – Wikipedia
China * China has a long history with paper money, beginning in the 7th century CE. During the 11th century, the government established a monopoly on its issuan… Evolution of Money: From Barter Systems to Bitcoin Investopedia·Andrew Beattie
Paper money – Wikipedia
History * Code of Hammurabi Law 100 ( c. 1755–1750 BC) stipulated repayment of a loan by a debtor to a creditor on a schedule with a maturity date specified in … Wikipedia
The birth of paper money in China – ADP ReThink Q
1 Dec 2023 — The birth of paper money in China. The advent of printed money, called jiaozi, in China changed the world and how people get paid. … Listen to this article: T… ADP
The History of Currency | FXCM Australia
11 Sept 2015 — These forms of currency trade persisted and were refined over the next millennia, until the appearance of the first standardised unit of currency, the coin. Acc…
Paper money – China got ahead of Europe about 600 years – Catalogue of Currencies
Chinese paper money printed on a dark blue-grey paper made from mulberry bark had a very large size (34×20 cm in the most frequently preserved 1 guan note from … Catalogue of Currencies
Jiaozi (currency) – Wikipedia
A reproduction of a Song note, possibly a Jiaozi, redeemable for 770 mò. Jiaozi (Chinese: 交子) was a form of promissory note which appeared around the 11th centu… Wikipedia
Paper Currency of the World – American Numismatic Society
The first true paper money was produced by the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234) of China in 1189. However, it was not used in the West until 1661, when the Stockholm Ban… Numismatics.org
The Birth of Paper Money In 7th-century China, merchants began using “flying cash” — an early form of paper money that would spark a financial …
16 Aug 2025 — The Origins of Paper Money: Tang Dynasty Innovation The first known use of paper money dates back to 7th century CE China during the Tang Dynasty. As trade and … Facebook·American Numismatic Association
References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_money
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A to Z support. Thank you in advance, Jeff
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Further study
The China Trilogy is an honorary degree in Chinese Studies. Don’t miss out!
https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B00TX0TDDI/allbooks and
Jeff J. Brown’s libraries and catalogues A-Z: 1,000s of hours of research, writing, editing and podcasting.
Do yourself, your friends, family and colleagues a favor, to make sure all of you are Sino-smart:
Google ebooks (Epub) and audiobooks:
44 Days Backpacking in China: The Middle Kingdom in the 21st Century, with the United States, Europe and the Fate of the World in Its Looking Glass https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=YBKHEAAAQBAJ
https://play.google.com/store/audiobooks/details?id=AQAAAECCkQXRlM
China Rising: Capitalist Roads, Socialist Destinations https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=YNmLEAAAQBAJ
https://play.google.com/store/audiobooks/details?id=AQAAAECCfHo86M
BIG Red Book on China: Chinese History, Culture and Revolution
https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=6Wl4EAAAQBAJ
https://play.google.com/store/audiobooks/details?id=AQAAAECCfHo86M
Amazon print and ebooks (Kindle):
44 Days Backpacking in China: The Middle Kingdom in the 21st Century, with the United States, Europe and the Fate of the World in Its Looking Glass
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1484939999/
China Rising: Capitalist Roads, Socialist Destinations
https://www.amazon.com/China-Rising-Capitalist-Socialist-Destinations/dp/0996487042
BIG Red Book on China: Chinese History, Culture and Revolution
https://www.amazon.com/BIG-Red-Book-China/dp/1673322719/
Author page:
https://www.amazon.com/Mr.-Jeff-J.-Brown/e/B00TX0TDDI
Praise for The China Trilogy:
Why and How China works: With a Mirror to Our Own History
JEFF J. BROWN, Editor, China Rising, and Senior Editor & China Correspondent, Dispatch from Beijing, The Greanville Post
Jeff J. Brown is a geopolitical analyst, journalist, lecturer and the author of The China Trilogy. It consists of 44 Days Backpacking in China – The Middle Kingdom in the 21st Century, with the United States, Europe and the Fate of the World in Its Looking Glass (2013); Punto Press released China Rising – Capitalist Roads, Socialist Destinations (2016); and BIG Red Book on China (2020). As well, he published a textbook, Doctor WriteRead’s Treasure Trove to Great English (2015). Jeff is a Senior Editor & China Correspondent for The Greanville Post, where he keeps a column, Dispatch from Beijing and is a Global Opinion Leader at 21st Century. He also writes a column for The Saker, called the Moscow-Beijing Express. Jeff writes, interviews and podcasts on his own program, China Rising Radio Sinoland, which is also available on YouTube, Stitcher Radio, iTunes, Ivoox and RUvid. Guests have included Ramsey Clark, James Bradley, Moti Nissani, Godfree Roberts, Hiroyuki Hamada, The Saker and many others. [/su_spoiler]
Jeff can be reached at China Rising, [email protected], Facebook, Twitter, Wechat (+86-19806711824/Mr_Professor_Brown, and Line/Telegram/Whatsapp: +33-612458821.
Read it in your language • Lealo en su idioma • Lisez-le dans votre langue • Lies es in deniner Sprache • Прочитайте это на вашем языке • 用你的语言阅读
[google-translator]
Wechat group: search the phone number +8619806711824 or my ID, Mr_Professor_Brown, friend request and ask Jeff to join the China Rising Radio Sinoland Wechat group. He will add you as a member, so you can join in the ongoing discussion.
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