Former president of China Construction Bank Corp. , Chang Zhenming. [people.com.cn]

The bank said Chang's resignation will go into effect as soon as a replacement is named. A new president is expected to be named by the end of this week.

Chang also gave up his posts as vice chairman of the board and executive director, the Beijing-based lender said in a statement yesterday.

Chang, 50, is returning to Citic Group, the biggest state-run investment company, where he was an executive director and vice president before he joined Construction Bank in July 2004 as preparations for an initial public offering took shape.

The bank raised US$9.2 billion in Hong Kong in October during Chang's tenure as the first of China's big-four state-owned banks to go public. Shares of the bank ended at HK$3.39 (44 US cents) yesterday, up 44 percent since the company's debut.

Qiu Zhicheng, a Haitong Securities Co analyst, said Chang's resignation will not hit Construction Bank's management as the bank is on the right track with its restructuring plan.

"The bank would only face a problem if there was conflict about the board's management strategy, but that is not the case here," Qiu said.

A Reuters report based on unnamed sources said Zhang Jianguo, president of the Bank of Communications, will be named to Chang's position.

Zhang, 52, was appointed president of the BoCom in June 2004, before HSBC Holdings Plc finalized its purchase of a nearly 20 percent stake in the Shanghai-based lender for US$1.75 billion in August that year.

A Bank of Communications' spokesperson declined to comment on that report yesterday.

Chang's successor will face a challenge in cutting the bank's reliance on property loans and expanding its product portfolio amid the country's measures to cool the red-hot property market, Qiu said.

Zhu Xiaohuang, chief risk officer for the bank, said last week the bank will pare lending to the real estate sector amid higher risk weighings as its new yuan lending in the first half has exceeded the bank's full-year target of 330 billion yuan.

The People's Bank of China said last Friday it will raise the reserve requirement ratio by 0.5 percentage points to 8.5 percent from August 15 to curb the excess liquidity and further rein in the funding to the real estate sector.