Asia-focused bank Standard Chartered said on Thursday it hopes to roll out credit cards in China by next year and is ramping up its private banking operations in order to tap into surging personal wealth in the country.

The London-based lender, an emerging markets specialist that won approval for local incorporation earlier this year in China's long-restricted banking market, still needs permission from regulators to launch credit cards.

"If we can get the regulatory approval ... hopefully next year (we will start issuing cards)," said Christine Ip, head of consumer banking at Standard Chartered Bank (China) Ltd, at the Reuters China Century Summit.

Its private banking business, which covets the burgeoning population of Chinese with net investable assets of at least $1 million, already has an office in Beijing and will open one in Shanghai next week, Ip said.

Within a year, Standard Chartered aims to open two more private banking offices and is looking at cities in eastern China, including Hangzhou and Ningbo, as well as in the west, with Chongqing and Chengdu two possibilities.

"It will take time to build the momentum," Ip said at the summit, held at the Reuters office in Shanghai.

She noted that private banks were still awaiting regulations that might expand the range of offerings they can provide to their wealthiest clients.