Goldman Sachs adds to Greater China Securities team

Goldman Sachs has hired Alan Zhang as a managing director and head of Greater China Securities, according to an internal memo.

Zhang joins from Deutsche Bank in Hong Kong where he was head of the institutional client group, debt and equity for China and head of global markets equity for China, the memo said.

This is a newly created leadership position with a focus on developing Goldman Sachs' securities franchise in Greater China, according to a source.

Goldman, like most banks, has been focusing on China, putting key heavy hitters into place in Beijing in an effort to build business. In March, Mark Machin, one of the co-heads of Asia investment banking for the firm, moved to Beijing to help build that business, while Ravi Sinha looks after business in Hong Kong.

In March 2008, the firm appointed China native Cai Jin-Yong as CEO of Goldman Sachs Gao Hua Securities, a joint venture between Goldman Sachs and Beijing Gao Hua Securities that offers investment banking services to domestic mainland China clients. Cai, who is one of Goldman's most senior bankers in Asia, assumed a newly created position as president of China investment banking.