People's Bank of China merged with the Ministry of Finance in 1969, with the duties of Bank of China General Management Department incorporated into the overseas business team under the banking division of the Ministry of Finance and only four people left to undertake the task of international financial research. At the end of 1969 when Premier Zhou Enlai met with the cadres in charge of business in Hong Kong and Macau, he stressed that it was important for Bank of China to make more effort on research.
In line with Premier Zhou's instructions, the head office of Bank of China organized the only research force in the overseas business team to intensify collection and analysis of information on international economic trends. In 1970, the research force started to compile Foreign Financial Trends and submitted it on an irregular basis to the State Council and other relevant departments for review.
In 1970 when the State Planning Commission was working on the Fourth Five-Year Plan, Premier Zhou Enlai instructed them to compare China's situation with other countries by compiling periodicals on economic statistics of major Western countries. This task was assumed by the Bank of China's research division which, with shortage of hands and plenty of difficulties, delivered Economic Statistics of United States, Soviet Union, Japan, West Germany, United Kingdom and France, winning Premier Zhou's praise. In the next several years, compilation of economic statistics of the six countries remained a regular task of the Bank of China research division until handover to the resumed National Bureau of Statistics.
In 1972, Bank of China established a research department with more researchers and intensified tasks to promote research throughout the bank. On one hand, the research improved the predictability of business; on the other hand, important information on the world economy was provided for relevant authorities for decision-making. Overseas branches of Bank of China made full use of favorable conditions to intensify research on international economic trends, the results including weekly Economic News Digest Series published by Hong Kong branch and Weekly Economic News published by London branch.
From 1973 to 1974, Vice Premier Chen Yun, entrusted by Premier Zhou Enlai, carried out special research on foreign trade issues. On June 7, 1973, when listening to a bank report, Vice Premier Chen Yun raised ten important questions in international economy and finance, requiring that the answers be given within a week to ten days. The ten research topics assigned by Chen Yun covered economy, finance, currency and other important aspects in the contemporary capitalist world, which were:
(1) How much money was issued in the U.S., Japan, UK, Federal Republic of Germany and France from 1969 to 1973? How much were their foreign currency reserves and gold reserves?
(2) How much is the current annual output of gold in the world? How much is the annual output of the main gold-producing countries?
(3) In which countries and regions are the 80 billion Eurodollars distributed?
(4) Besides the iron and steel industry, what industries can also function as the signs of economic prosperity, recession and crisis? The construction industry is included in the U.S. From 1969 to 1973, how much were the investments in iron and steel, machinery and other infrastructure in the U.S., Japan, UK, Federal Republic of Germany and France?
(5) What measures did the U.S., Japan, UK, Federal Republic of Germany and France take to tide over the crisis? How long was the interval between two crisis?
(6) In addition to political contradictions, what are the economic contradictions between the U.S. and UK, Japan, Federal Republic of Germany and France? What are the principal contradictions?
(7) What are the possible solutions to problems concerning trade and currency between the U.S. and Japan, UK, France and Federal Republic of Germany? Finance Minister Valery Giscard d'Estaing of France advocated the linkage between currency and gold. Can we reckon an approximate ratio between the total monetary flow and the total possession of gold in the world?
(8) How much was the external deficit of the U.S. in 1973, including funds transfer, troop stationing, investment, tourism, trade and so on.
(9) Short-term and long-term estimation on world economy, currency and finance.
(10) Estimation of the advantages and disadvantages of the overdraft facility given by foreign banks.
These issues were important for investigation of international economy and finance, promotion of foreign economic and technological exchanges as well as for foreign capital utilization. Bank of China research department undertook this task with less than ten staff dealing with ten research topics within ten days. The researchers spared no effort to overcome all difficulties and completed the task before the deadline. The punctual submission of the detailed research report and reference materials was acclaimed by Vice Premier Chen Yun.
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