Hu Changmiao, spokesperson of China Construction Bank Corporation (CCB) announced that the Board of Directors of CCB held an extraordinary meeting on the afternoon of July 27, appointing Mr. Zhang Jianguo the President of CCB, which would be subject to the approval of the China Banking Regulatory Commission. CCB also announced that Mr. Zhang will be appointed as vice chairman and executive director of the board. And the appointment will be effective after the shareholders meeting approve it. CCB will hold the extraordinary shareholders meeting at an appropriate time and will send circular including Mr. Zhang’s resume to all shareholders. And CCB’s Board of Directors has already released its official announcement. 

Mr. Zhang Jianguo, aged 51, was Vice Chairman of the board of directors and President of Bank of Communications Co., Ltd. (‘‘BOCOM’’) from June 2004 to July 2006. From September 2001 to May 2004, Mr. Zhang served as Executive Vice President of BOCOM. From September 1984 to September 2001, Mr. Zhang served several positions in Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, including Deputy General Manager and General Manager of the International Banking Department, Deputy Governor of the Tianjin Branch, Deputy Governor and Governor of the Tianjin Economic and Technology Development Area Branch, and Deputy Manager of the International Banking Department of the Tianjin Branch. From September 1982 to September 1984, Mr. Zhang worked at the Tianjin Branch of the People’s Bank of China. Mr. Zhang received a master’s degree in Economics from Tianjin College of Finance and Economics in 1995.

The CCB board of directors welcomes the appointment of Mr. Zhang. It believes that Mr. Zhang, having spent years in serving commercial banks and accumulated rich managerial experience, is the right person to head the senior management of the bank. It is confident that Mr. Zhang will lead the management to faithfully implement the bank’s long-term development strategies and build the bank big and strong.

Since the shareholding transformation and IPO, CCB has made effective reform and innovation. It keeps improving the corporate governance and strives to accelerate the organizational restructuring and strategic transition. Meanwhile, following the “customer-centric” business philosophy, it works hard to optimize business process, strengthen risk management and internal control, accelerate product innovation in key markets and for key customers and enhance marketing and customer services, with healthy and rapid business growth and bid increase of competitiveness being achieved. At the end of 2005, CCB’s Tier 1 capital stood at about RMB287.7 billion, capital adequacy 13.57%, pre-tax profit RMB55.4 billion, post-tax profit RMB47 billion, return on average assets 1.11% and return on average equity 21.59%; its asset quality continued performing well among the four major state-owned commercial banks, with a NPL ratio of 3.84%. The achievements of CCB are fully recognized by the market. Based on its Tier 1 capital, the bank tops the list of Top 100 Chinese Banks and ranks the 11^th on the list of Top 1000 World Banks recently released by The Banker. On the list of Top 300 Asian Banks issued by Asiaweek, CCB, with the highest net interest income and net profit, is rated as the “most profitable bank in Asia”