HONG KONG, June 2 (Reuters) - Citigroup ( C/PN ) said on

Monday it had appointed Wenjie Zhang as its new country officer

and banking head for China, after the exit of its former China

head in November.

Zhang was also named president and executive director of

Citibank China, the company said in a statement. The appointment

is subject to regulatory approvals.

He will act as the lead Citi representative and as its

single, coordinated face in the mainland China market, the

company said, leading the team and fostering strong regulatory

relationships and risk controls.

He will fill the role after former Citi China head Luke Lu

left in November for personal reasons.

Zhang will join Citi in July and will be based in Shanghai,

reporting to Marc Luet, Citi's Head of Japan, Asia North and

Australia and Banking, the bank said.

A seasoned banker with 30 years of experience in corporate

and institutional banking, Zhang was most recently the president

of China and Shanghai branch manager for Bank of America

China, according to Citi's statement.

Prior to that, he was co-head of global banking and

executive vice president at HSBC China, after stints at

JPMorgan, Citi and Credit Agricole CIB.

Citi is cutting up to 200 information technology (IT)

contractor roles in China, two people familiar told Reuters last

month, as the bank looks to hire its own staff globally for such

operations to improve risk management and data governance.

Citi, which already has a banking business in China, is in

the process of setting up a securities unit in the country.