HSBC Holdings PLC will continue to invest in China by hiring new staff and opening new outlets following the U.K.-based bank's injection of capital into its China unit, a senior executive at the bank said Monday.
The hiring plans come despite the group's decision to cut 25,000 jobs globally, including 3,000 jobs in Hong Kong, by 2013 to reduce costs, and underscore its bullish views on China.
HSBC Bank (China) Co. Chief Executive Helen Wong said in an interview the bank will open a few more outlets in the world's second largest economy by the end of the year, adding to the three outlets opened in the first six months of the year. HSBC, the largest foreign bank in China, currently has 110 outlets across 29 major cities in the country.
HSBC said Friday it injected CNY2.8 billion ($441 million) into its China unit to boost its registered capital to CNY10.8 billion, giving it the largest capital base among all foreign banks in China.
HSBC's China unit posted significant growth in net interest income during the January-September period due to an improved interest spread and strong loan growth. Along with its operations in India and Singapore, the bank's China unit has been a major driver of profit growth in the Asia-Pacific region in the first three quarters of the year, the bank said last week.
Wong said in the interview HSBC's China unit will continue to hire as it expands, adding to the 300 employees it hired in the first half of the year.
HSBC China has more than 5,000 staff now.
The group said in May it plans to hire at least 2,000 people in mainland China and Singapore over the next five years.
Fiona Law is a reporter for Dow Jones Newswires, where this story originally appeared. Write to her here.