Asia Mansion is designed by Mahai Foreign Firm and constructed by Yuchangtai Construction Factory, with an area of 1.739 m2, a building area of1.654,38+0.984 m2 and a reinforced concrete frame structure. There are doors in the east (along the Bund) and south (No.2 Yan 'an East Road), and the main entrance is in the east. The appearance is eclectic, the facade is baroque, the front door has four love Onek columns, two on the left and right, the inner door has a small love Onek column, and the door has a semicircular coupon top engraved with patterns. The population area is decorated in baroque style. The east and south facades are three horizontal sections and three vertical sections. The recessed part of the second to fifth floors has balconies and semicircular iron bars, and the sixth and seventh floors have Onek columns. The southeast corner is recessed into the curved wall, and the facade is changeable. The first and second floors of the external wall are made of granite bricks to form the base. The plane is zigzag with a patio inside. Outside each floor are offices, large rooms and wooden floors. Inside is the corridor, and the window is 2 meters high and bright. The corridor is covered with white tiles and mosaic floors. 1939 building has been raised by another floor. On the pillars on both sides of the gate of Asia Building, there are two original bronze medals of Shell's pillar (arc). When the company left the building, it was demolished to its office in Yuanmingyuan Building, and now it is kept as a historical relic in Shanghai History Museum. In old China, people and industrial oil had to be imported from abroad. After the 1980s, people abandoned the habit of lighting with oil lamps and red candles and switched to kerosene lamps (also called foreign oil lamps), so the market for oil became wider and wider. Shanghai is the earliest port in China that imports oil and has the largest sales volume. At that time, all the oil was sold to China by foreign companies. Among them, the American foreign firm, which belongs to Rockefeller Group, first operated oil business in China. At that time, the oil shipped by Mobil Foreign Firm from Indonesia arrived in Shanghai and was underwritten by the famous businessman Ye Chengzhong. 1900, the American army established a company in Shanghai, and 1904, an oil depot was established in Shanghai. British businessman Asia Oil Company also set up an office at No.7 Jiujiang Road, Shanghai, tel: 1907. Asia Company is a subsidiary of British Shell Transport Trading Company and Royal Dutch Oil Company, headquartered in London, with branches on five continents.
In China, there are South China Company (operating oil business in Hongkong, Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian) and North China Company (operating oil transportation, sales and storage in Shanghai and other provinces in China). 1904, American businessman Texaco Oil Company set up a branch in Shanghai. It surpassed Asia from the beginning. After all, Texaco is the second largest oil monopoly organization in the world (at that time, the US military ranked first in the world), and Texaco soon ranked third. All three companies are trying their best to compete for the China market, and the fierce competition has extended to factories, rural areas and small towns. At that time, in the whitewashed factories along the railways, highways and rivers between villagers in China, advertisements of these two companies and many small grocery stores in rural areas were often seen, and their brands were nailed on them as sales points.
Soon after, after the establishment of China's own Guanghua Oil Company, the three companies were very panicked and colluded with each other. The concession industrial and commercial office did not send a note (license) to Guanghua's gas station, and the three companies even made it difficult for Guanghua to sell kerosene at a reduced price. Guanghua was eventually acquired by the US military. The annual oil sales of Asian companies account for a quarter of China's demand and make a lot of money. Asian companies also have three major oil depots in Shanghai, which are located in Gao Qiao Sha, Lingjiamuqiao and Xi Du. Asia has just set up an office in Shanghai, trying to seize the China market by dumping at a low price. 1908, the net weight of kerosene per can is 15 kg, and the price is only 0.75 yuan. To 1926, 2.5 yuan per can.
1950 Asia Building was taken over by East China Petroleum Company. 1959, Shanghai Metallurgical Design Institute, Shanghai Real Estate Administration and Shanghai Silk Company moved into office. 1966 is managed by the real estate department. 1996 during the replacement of the Bund house, this building became the headquarters of China Pacific Insurance Company. When the Pacific War broke out, Asian companies were taken over by the Japanese, and many British employees of the company fled to Chongqing. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the company resumed business and merged South China and North China companies, and its operating performance exceeded that before the war. After the founding of New China, branches all over the country closed down one after another, and the company in Shanghai retained more than 50 people, with less trade activities and only engaged in chemical fertilizers, pesticides and other businesses. 1966 all closed down.