China Construction Bank Corporation announced Wednesday the appointment of a new chief finance officer and chief risk officer in a signal of stronger corporate governance at the giant state-controlled lender.

CCB spokesman Xi Deyan said the move was "of great significance to improving the bank's overall management ability, especially in financial management and risk control, as well as its core competitiveness".

The CCB was the first of China's "big four" state banks to list shares in Hong Kong last October.

Xi said the chief finance and risk officers were the bank's strategic decision-makers.

New chief finance officer Pang Xiusheng had been working as a deputy director of the bank's balance sheets committee since last March, while new chief risk officer Zhu Xiaohuang was a deputy director of its risk management committee.

China is overhauling its "big four" prior to opening the domestic financial market fully to foreign competitors by the end of this year.

The Bank of China went public in Hong Kong earlier this month, and is seeking to list on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in early July. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China said its Hong Kong listing might happen in September.

Source: Xinhua