MA Weihua has ended his decade-long tenure as Party chief of China Merchants Bank, the country's sixth-largest lender said yesterday.

Tian Huiyu, the head of China Construction Bank's Beijing branch, will be appointed as the new head of CMB, the bank said. Ma, 63, did not wish to assume a major role at the lender because of his age, the Shenzhen-based bank said. His term as CMB president will end in June. Ma started his job as CMB president 14 years ago, when the bank, with only 100 billion yuan (US$16.13 billion) in assets, was reeling from the Asian financial crisis. Ma won recognition for managing reforms that optimized the bank's structure and boosted efficiency.