HONG KONG, Jan 4 Reuters Citigroup Inc is aiming to launch its wholly owned China investment banking unit as early as the end of this year and hire about 30 people for the business, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said.

The Wall Street bank could triple staffing in the unit, which will focus on the domestic capital market, to nearly 100 in the coming years by making local hires and transfers from Hong Kong and other markets, the person said.

Citi, which offers corporate, institutional and other banking services in China, applied for a wholly owned mainland Chinese brokerage business licence in late 2021 as part of its push to ramp up its presence in the market.

The Chinese securities regulator permitted the U.S. bank to proceed and set up the unit last month, said the person, who declined to be named as the bank39;s China business plans are not public yet.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission CSRC official record shows that the regulator on Dec. 28 made a decision on accepting or rejecting Citi39;s application for setting up a local investment banking unit. It did not elaborate.

A Citi spokesperson declined to comment, while CSRC did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The launch of the China venture will see Citi join its Wall Street rivals Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley who have boosted their equity holdings of local brokerage businesses in recent years.

It will come at a time when the growth engine of the world39;s second…