Citi announced the appointment of Luke Lu as Citi country officer and head of banking for China.

In this role, Lu will oversee all of Citi's businesses and operations in China and will be responsible for maintaining the firm's client relationships and regulatory commitments. Lu will also assume the position of president and board director of Citibank (China).

Lu is a Citi veteran with 25 years of banking experience, having worked in Hong Kong and mainland China. He joined Citi in 2002 in Shanghai and has held various senior leadership positions across corporate banking and commercial banking. Most recently, he led the corporate banking coverage of the large local corporate client segment. Lu also gained substantial experience dealing with regulators and the government when he was Citi Tianjin's and later, Citi Shanghai's branch manager.

Citi first opened for business in China in 1902 and was among the first to locally incorporate in 2017. Leveraging its global network, Citi China is committed to supporting the strategic needs and aspirations of Chinese corporates' going global, as well as global multinationals expanding their footprint in China. Citi China provides global banking capabilities and services to mid-sized companies in commercial banking. As these companies expand internationally, Citi helps enable their growth in other markets and facilitates access to capital through its unique global network and market-leading cross-border financing solutions.

In September 2023, Citi was the first US bank to receive approval from the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) and the International Energy Exchange (INE) to act as a Futures Margin Depository Bank (FMDB) for its Qualified Foreign Investor (QFI) clients to trade commodity futures on the SHFE and INE. To date, Citi has a clean sweep of the depository bank mandates for the China-London Connect programme and dominates the China-Swiss Connect programme with 93% of the mandates. Citi is also pursuing wholly owned securities and futures companies in onshore China.

Lu succeeds Christine Lam, who is retiring from Citi. He will report to Angel Ng, head of Asia North and Australia, cluster and banking ar Citi.

Ng said: "Luke has a strong track record of delivering business growth, having knowledge and unique insight of the China market, and a relentless focus on clients. The China market is a strategic priority for Citi, where we have a market-leading banking business that we are committed to, and Luke is well-qualified to lead and grow our franchise in China."

"I would also like to thank Christine for her leadership in the franchise over the past seven years. Under her leadership, our China franchise has made tremendous progress. Christine has a distinguished career at Citi spanning 40 years, and her contribution covers many businesses, functions and geographies," added Ng.