HSBC’S development in China won’t be stopped by the credit crunch and the bank will add two more rural banks by the end of the first half of the next year, a senior banker said today.

The bank will continue its recruiting and expansion in China including opening more outlets and rural banks, Peter Wong, executive director of Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp, HSBC’s Asian unit, told Shanghai Daily on the sidelines of the 20th International Business Leader’s Advisory Council in Shanghai.

More staff will be added in China despite the credit crunch, he said.

However, the bank will evaluate different risks exposure for different sectors and the hiring spree differs on the sectors, he said, noting that the influence of the financial credit can’t be totally waved off for its China’s business.

HSBC is among the first batch of overseas banks to set up their local incorporation in China ’s mainland. The bank has one of the biggest networks in the mainland riding on the country’s growing number of middle-class clients.

HSBC has opened three rural banks on the mainland, one in Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, one in Chongqing Municipality and one in Fujian Province.