London-based banking group HSBC Holdings has appointed Vincent Cheng to the board as an executive director, making him the first Chinese citizen to join the board in an executive capacity, the South China Morning Post reported. The promotion of Cheng, who has previously served as the head of HSBC’s Asia-Pacific and China operations, is being seen as a move towards increasing the bank’s focus on the Hong Kong-mainland market following poor performance the US subprime crisis. Cheng is seen as having strong ties to the Chinese government, having recently served as a senior adviser to the National Committee of the 11th Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.