Hang Seng Bank Ltd., Hong Kong's second-largest by assets, will triple its branch network in the Chinese mainland and add employees as it starts offering consumer banking in the world's most populous nation.

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Hang Seng will expand from 16 outlets to 50, the bank said in a statement today. Its workforce will increase from 800 workers to more than 2,000, the statement said.

Foreign banks are eager to offer loans, mortgages and credit- card services in the local currency to spur expansion in the $5.1 trillion industry. Overseas banks operating in China must incorporate locally to offer credit cards and mass-market services in yuan.

Hang Seng Bank, which finished incorporating last week, and parent HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe's largest bank, are seeking to tap $2.2 trillion of household savings in the Chinese mainland, diversifying away from Hong Kong where rivals are undercutting each other for loan volume. They may sell shares on the Shanghai exchange when regulations allow.

Rising incomes are spurring demand for financial services in China, where the economy expanded 11.3 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, the fastest pace in more than a decade.

Hang Seng Bank's pretax profit from China rose 4.5 percent to HK$897 million ($115 million) last year, representing 6.1 percent of its total.

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