The modern banking industry began in Hong Kong in 1845 with the opening of a branch of the Oriental Bank Corporation, which had its headquarters in India: the Bank was also the first bank in Hong Kong to issue banknotes. Other banks then began to establish branches in Hong Kong and many issued their own banknotes. The first Hong Kong-based bank was the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, formed in 1865. Paper money originated in China as early as the Song Dynasty. It declined in use in the Ming Dynasty, when over-issue and inflation rendered it worthless. Paper currency was reinvented in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries, as commercial and financial transactions expanded. Banknotes offered a number of advantages, particularly to merchants: they were easier to store and transport than coins or ingots they could be issued in large denominations they could make up for the chronic shortages of coins that plagued rapidly expanding trading centres like Hong Kong.