Hang Seng Bank plans to double its mainland outlets to 30 next year as it accelerates a more than 1-billion-yuan (US$125-million) expansion plan in the country.

Hong Kong's third-largest lender, 62 of which is owned by HSBC Holdings Plc, plans to open branches in the eastern city of Hangzhou, near Shanghai, and the southern city of Foshan next year, Chief Executive Raymond Or told Reuters in an interview.

"We set ourselves a target this year to increase our outlets to 15. We are now targeting an increase (next year) to a size of 30," he said, adding that the number includes branches, sub-branches and representative offices.

In August, Or had told Reuters that the bank was planning to have 30 outlets before 2010.

Hang Seng, which has 550 mainland staff, will hire 300 to 400 new staff as part of the expansion, which Or said was likely to cost more than of 1 billion yuan.

With Hangzhou and Foshan, Hang Seng will have a presence in 10 mainland cities, which Or said may be the optimal number of cities for targeting the mainland's wealthiest customers.

"Our focus is still on the bigger cities," he said, noting that there are likely to be only a couple of other cities that would be a good fit for Hang Seng's business model.

"In Tianjin, we don't have a presence. That's probably a city we should consider," he said, referring to the wealthy port city near Beijing.

The bank, along with a host of foreign rivals including Citigroup and Standard Chartered, is awaiting final word from mainland regulators as to how the country's banking sector will open up further under World Trade Organization commitments in December.

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