Spokesman Wang Zhaowen said in Beijing yesterday that Xiao replaces former chairman Liu Mingkang, who was promoted as chairman of China Banking Regulatory Commission earlier this year, while He replaces former chief executive Liu Jinbao.

The board meeting made the decision after being approved by financial supervision authorities of both the mainland and Hong Kong, Wang said.

Xiao has worked as vice-governor of the central People's Bank of China since October 1998 and has been chairman and president of Bank of China since March 2003, while He has been vice-president of Bank of China since November 2000.

Wang said Liu Jinbao now works at the headquarters of Bank of China.

Reliable sources said Liu, who worked for BOC Hong Kong (Holdings) Ltd for about six years, will help Bank of China list on domestic stock exchanges.

Earlier this year, Wang said his bank was trying to become listed on the stocks market before 2005.

During the first four months of this year, the bank reported an operating profit of 17.2 billion yuan (US$2.1 billion) -- an increase of 4.1 billion yuan (US$493 million) or 31 per cent from a year ago.

Wang said Bank of China has always given key loan support to high-quality clients in fields such as electricity, petrochemical and telecommunications.

The bank also gives special attention to development of non-interest business, he said.

Since the beginning of this year, the bank handled international settlements worth US$68.9 billion -- an increase of US$15.8 billion on a year ago.

During the first four months, the bank's non-performing loans (NPLs) dropped 12 billion yuan (US$1.45 billion).

By the end of April, the bank's NPLs -- by the international standard of five-category classification -- dropped 1.81 percentage points compared with the end of last year to 20.56 per cent.

(China Daily May 29, 2003)