Abstract: Hubei government bank was a local banking institute in large-scale in the later Qing Dynasty, which was established in 1896 by the province governor, Zhang Zhidong. During its thirty-year existence, it made great contribution to the local economic development. But after the Revolution of 1911, it fell down and in the end went bankrupt. After its bankruptcy, the central government entered into rivalry with the local government over its property. The central government declared twice that the bank was under state control, but the province government protested twice for the returning. The dispute ended with the winning of the province government, which showed the strong attitude of the local government and the conflict between the central and local governments, at the same time also demonstrated the complicated situation of the contemporary Chinese politics.

Key words: Hubei government bank, government of the Republic of China, central and local governments