SHANGHAI - UBS AG said on Tuesday that it is on track to double its headcount in China over the next three to five years.

The move is designed to boost its operations in a market that the Swiss banking giant sees as one of the growth engines in the Asia-Pacific region.

The banking group already employs the most staff members among foreign banks in China and a doubling of its personnel in the country will bring the total to about 1,000.

"Growth in China is a very important strategic focus for UBS in the Asia-Pacific region. We aim to invest in China consistently and methodically over the years to come," said Chi-Won Yoon, Asia-Pacific chairman and chief executive officer at UBS. "UBS is here in China for the long term, we want to grow and succeed with China. So it's important to train professionals for the future."

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He added that most of the new employees will be recruited locally in China and the establishment of a UBS Business University in Hong Kong is in the pipeline to train local talent. The recruitment is designed to serve a planned "all-area" business expansion in China.

UBS is currently working on introducing new derivative products including financial futures and is in the process of acquiring a license for establishing a wholly foreign-owned subsidiary in China, Yoon said.

Research activities will also be expanded to cover smaller companies, in an effort to participate more actively in the country's Nasdaq-style ChiNext market.

"UBS has traditionally focused on the IPOs of large companies. We aim to increase our research to include mid-cap names, which will lead to our capability to participate more in the ChiNext market," Yoon said.

UBS plans to participate more actively in the State-owned enterprises' issuance of yuan-denominated bonds in Hong Kong. State-owned companies and institutions, such as China National Heavy Duty Truck Group Co Ltd and Bank of Communications Co Ltd, have all issued or are planning to issue yuan bonds.

"We were involved in several (yuan-denominated) bond issuances in Hong Kong last year ... and we want to remain in the forefront of this business," Yoon said.