China is Hit by 7.8-Magnitude Earthquake Near Chengdu
By Aaron Sheldrick & Eugene Tang – Bloomberg.com (12 May 2008)

China Earthquake Information – USGS

From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chengdu

Chengdu, located in southwest People’s Republic of China, is the capital of Sichuan provinces and a sub-provincial city. Chengdu is also one of the most important economic centers and transportation and communication hubs in China.

Financial Industry
Chengdu is now building itself to be the financial hub for Western People’s Republic of China and has successfully attracted major international financial institutions, including Citigroup, HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, United Overseas Bank (Singapore). Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (Singapore), ABN AMRO, Bank of East Asia, BNP Paribas, etc.

Historically, Chengdu has marked its name in the history of financial innovation. The world’s first ever paper currency ‘Jiao Zi’ was seen in Chengdu in the year 1023, during the Song Dynasty of Ancient China.

Now, Chengdu is not only the gateway of Western People’s Republic of China for foreign financial institutions, but also a booming town for Chinese domestic financial firms. The Chinese monetary authority, People’s Bank of China (China’s central bank), set its southwest China headquarters in Chengdu City. In addition, almost all domestic banks and securities brokerage firms located their regional headquarters or branches in Chengdu. At the same time, the local financial firms of Chengdu are strengthening their presences nationally, notably, West China Securities, GuoJin Securities and Chengdu Commercial Bank. Moreover, on top of banks and brokerage firms, the flourish of local economy lured more and more financial service firms to the city to capitalize on the economic growth. KPMG opened this first west China office in Chengdu City this October, and before the inauguration of KPMG Chengdu office, its rival, Ernst & Young, had already integrated Chengdu into its global operation for several years.