Tian Guoli, the new Party secretary to Bank of China Ltd, was elected chairman of the major State-owned lender by its board members on Wednesday after a shareholders’ meeting.

The Shanghai Securities News reported on Thursday that the appointment of Tian, former vice-chairman of Citic Group, still needs approval from the China Banking Regulatory Commission.

Tian was appointed as BOC’s Party secretary in April to succeed Xiao Gang, the current chairman of China Securities Regulatory Commission. He has worked as president of China Cinda Asset Management, the company set up to take over bad loans from China Construction Bank.