THE Bank of China has made a return to its founding site, a 104-year-old building on Hankou Road, as it was offered the right to use the building yesterday.

The Bank of China Group Investment Limited and the Shanghai Bund Investment (Group) Co Ltd yesterday signed a contract that allows BOC to use the building.

The bank plans to provide high-end wealth-management services at the historical, city-protected building, which is close to the Bund. BOC, the oldest bank in China, was founded in 1912 in the building and moved to Renji Road (now Dianchi Road) in 1923.

The building has changed hands several times, serving recently as the Huangpu District Teaching Training Center.

The Huangpu District government plans to redevelop the old office buildings along the Bund and replace the government affiliates, administrative companies and non-profit organizations inside with top-level financial institutions to revitalize its past financial allure.

"Huangpu District has achieved great success in attracting new financial institutions and restoring the Bund landscape," Shanghai Vice Mayor Tu Guangshao said at the ceremony.

The Bund used to be known as the Wall Street of the Far East. But its glory dimmed with the development of Lujiazui, the gleaming financial center that rose from rice paddies on the east side of the Huangpu River in the last two decades. In Shanghai's financial blueprint, both Lujiazui and the Bund will be key drivers as the city develops into a financial hub by 2020.

The Bund in Puxi area will position itself as the home to securities firms, fund-management companies, investment banks, asset-management companies, financial-services agencies, and other entities involved in related services such as legal and accountancy.