Chang Kia-ngau was a supporter of reform in China and started his public service career in 1910 as editor-in-chief of the Official Gazette published by the Ministry of Communications.

When he was at the Shanghai branch, Chang refused a request by Yuan Shikai to stop redeeming banknotes for silver.

[4]: 10–11  The move was meant to secure silver deposits for Yuan's use, but would have undermined confidence in the new currency, so Chang disregarded the order and was instrumental in the bank's separation from the Beiyang government's control.

[3]: 65 During much of the Sino-Japanese War, Chang served as Minister of Communications, accompanying the central government from Nanjing to Chongqing.

After the War, he was appointed Economic Commissioner for Manchuria, and his diaries from this period were also published in the U.S. After his departure from China, Chang moved to the US and was a senior research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.