K. P. Chen

Life & Legacy

Kwang Pu Chen (traditional Chinese: 陳光甫; simplified Chinese: 陈光甫; pinyin: Chén Guāngfǔ; Wade–Giles: Chen Kuang-fu; 17 December 1881 – 1 July 1976) was a Shanghai-based Chinese banker and State Councillor. He was the founder of the first modern Chinese savings bank, the Shanghai Commercial and Savings Bank, the Shanghai Commercial Bank, a travel agency, as well as the China Assurance Corporation Ltd.
He was one of China's most successful entrepreneurs in the twentieth century, particularly influential in the financial and business world of Shanghai. He played a key role in negotiating financial aid from the United States in 1937-1940, working with Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau.
Linsun Cheng, in his Banking in Modern China: Entrepreneurs, Professional Managers, and the Development of Chinese, says, "It is almost impossible to describe any significant innovation in the history of modern Chinese banks without mentioning K. P. Chen's name."