Nov. 23 (Bloomberg) -- JPMorgan Chase & Co. said it hired Zili Shao from law firm Linklaters LLP as chairman and chief executive officer of its China operations.

Shao, 50, is currently managing partner for Asia at Linklaters, according to an e-mailed statement from JPMorgan today. The bank promoted Fang Fang to vice chairman of Asia investment banking. Fang will focus on leading the firm’s business involving China in all markets across Asia, it said.

JPMorgan has been hiring people including Macquarie Group Ltd.’s Philip Zhai to expand its investment banking, treasury and asset management businesses in China. The company lags behind Goldman Sachs Group Inc., UBS AG and Deutsche Bank AG in the nation, where it still hasn’t received a domestic investment banking license.

The New York-based bank in July appointed Frank Gong, its China strategist, as vice chairman of investment banking in the nation after Charles Li, former China chairman, left in June to join Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd. as CEO.

Zhai, former head of telecommunications, media and technology in China at Macquarie Capital, joined JPMorgan in September as a managing director.

Shao, who has been a partner at London-based Linklaters for 11 years, will leave the law firm at the end of January, it said in a separate release. He was appointed to head the firm’s Asian business in May, succeeding Giles White.

Linklaters is in the process of identifying a successor to Shao, a spokeswoman said today.

To contact the reporter on this story: Cathy Chan in Hong Kong at kchan14@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 23, 2009 04:33 EST