(PANG XINGLEI)

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd. (ICBC), the country's largest lender by assets, nominated Zhang Hongli (Lee Zhang), a former senior executive at Deutsche Bank AG, as its vice president.

If the appointment is approved by the China Banking Regulatory Commission, Zhang will be the first high-ranking manager to be recruited by a Chinese state-owned commercial bank from a foreign counterpart.

The bank said its board believes Zhang "is experienced in international financial markets and the circumstances of the country and is experienced in the management of international banks."

Zhang, 45, joined Deutsche Bank in 2001. He had served as a member of the Global Banking Management Committee and Asia-Pacific head of Deutsche Bank Global Banking and chairman of Deutsche Bank (China) since October 2004. He had also been Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s chief representative in Beijing and worked at British asset management firm Schroders PLC and personal computer giant Hewlett-Packard Co.