Bank of Communications Limited (BoComm) (; often abbreviated as ), is the fifth-largest bank in mainland China. Established in 1908, the Bank of Communications claims a long history in China and is one of the banks to have issued banknotes in modern Chinese history. It was listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong in June 2005 and the Shanghai Stock Exchange in May 2007. The Bank was ranked No.151 among Fortune Global 500 in terms of operating income by the Fortune and No.11 among the global top 1,000 banks in terms of Tier 1 Capital rated by the London-based magazine The Banker. History Before 1949 In 1907, Liang Shiyi proposed the formation of a Bank of Communications to redeem the Beijing–Hankou Railway from its Belgian owners and place the railway under Chinese control. The Bank of Communications was duly formed in 1908 and provided more than half of the financing needed to buy the railway. The successful redemption enhanced the prestige of Liang's Communications Clique. The bank's name uses the word "communications" to refer to the linking of two points by a means of transportation. In order to expand the business into the overseas area, the Bank opened its first Hong Kong Branch on 27 November 1934. After 1949 Republic of China After the Chinese Civil War ended in 1949, the Bank of Communications, like the Bank of China, was effectively split into two operations, part of it relocating to Taiwan with the Kuomintang government. In Taiwan, the bank was also known as the Bank of Communications (; Chiao Tung Bank). It eventually merged with the International Commercial Bank of China (), the renamed Bank of China in Taiwan after its 1971 privatization, to become the Mega International Commercial Bank. People's Republic of China The mainland operation is the current Bank of Communications. Following the State Council's decision to restructure the Bank in 1986, the Bank was then restructured and re-commenced operations on 1 April 1987. Since then, its Head Office has been located at Shanghai. Today Today, the Bank of Communications is amongst the top 5 leading commercial banks in China and has an extensive network of over 2,800 branches covering over 80 major cities. Apart from Hong Kong, the Bank has also established overseas branches in New York, Tokyo, Singapore and representative offices in London and Frankfurt. As of end-2002, the Bank had over 88,000 employees and