Australia’s largest bank, National Australia Bank, has strengthened its Chinese business presence by appointing an industry veteran.
The National Australia Bank (NAB) has been in China since 1982 and as well as backing Australian and New Zealand business in Asia, it also supports Chinese institutional and corporate clients looking to trade with or invest in Australia and New Zealand.
Ciqiang Lu has been appointed General Manager of Greater China at NAB. Lu is based in the bank’s Hong Kong branch. He will oversee over 300 people in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing that focus on supporting customers through relationship banking, trade finance, working capital and markets solutions across Greater China, Australia and New Zealand.
Lu joins NAB from Natixis where he was the Senior Country Manager, Greater China for the past nine years, based in Shanghai, where he was responsible for the bank’s China and Taiwan operations.
NAB's China Push
Prior to Natixis, Lu held senior roles with Société Générale where he served as Chief Operations Officer China, General Manager for Shanghai Branch and also Head of Credit and Marketing. He is fluent in French, English and Mandarin and worked as a translator for three years with the Chinese Association for International Understanding in Beijing before joining KPMG’s audit team in Paris.
«As we continue to support our Australia and New Zealand clients looking to increasingly gain exposure to the biggest growth economy in the world, Ciqiang Lu will be a welcome addition to our offering and will ensure we can meet the growing needs of our clients in the Greater China market,» said Peter Coad, NAB Executive General Manager for International Branches.
