HONG KONG, June 5 (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.