HONG KONG (Reuters) -Citigroup Inc ( C/PN ) will reduce the number of employees at two of its technology centres in China by about 3,500, the bank said on Thursday, as part of its efforts to simplify and shrink its global tech operations to improve risk and data management.

The reduction of staff at the China Citi Solution Centres in Shanghai and Dalian is expected to be completed by the start of the fourth quarter this year, it said in a statement.

The bank said some of the roles would be moved to Citi's technology centres elsewhere, without specifying the numbers of jobs or specific locations.

Last month, Reuters first reported that Citi was cutting around 200 information technology contractor roles in China.

Citi in March unveiled plans internally to dramatically reduce reliance on information technology contractors and hire thousands of employees for IT, following regulatory penalties over data governance and inadequate controls.