Hong Kong’s iconic Bank of China Tower opens in 1990 – SCMP archive

Opening 36 years ago today, the landmark skyscraper was Hong Kong’s tallest at the time

Acrimony set aside at Tower festivities

By Goeffrey Crothall

This article was first published on May 18, 1990

Leaders of politics, finance and commerce from Hongkong and China converged on No 1 Garden Road last night to celebrate the official opening of the territory’s tallest building, the Bank of China Tower.

The acrimony and terse exchanges of recent weeks were seemingly forgotten as smiles and handshakes abounded. Even the Chief Secretary, Sir David Ford, managed a smile as he was pushed aside by New China News Agency director Mr Zhou Nan and his party with a crowd of photographers in tow.

The mood of conciliation was summed up by China’s senior representative on the Joint Liaison Group, Mr Guo Fengmin, who said: “There have been a few problems of late, but I am confident they will be resolved in the near future and the Chinese and British sides will continue to work closely together in the run up to 1997.”

In his opening address, the president of the Bank of China, Mr Wang Deyan, made a special point of thanking the Hongkong Government for its support in the construction of the bank’s Hongkong headquarters.