JPMORGAN Chase China chief executive officer Mark Leung will retire from the firm at the end of the year amid increasing challenges for global lenders in the world’s second-largest economy.

Leung, a 25-year veteran of the bank, will stay on until the end of 2024 to help with the succession, according to an internal memo, which was confirmed by a spokesperson at the bank.

Under his leadership since 2018, JPMorgan’s China revenue doubled and the bank became the first foreign firm to fully own a securities business and a futures company after the nation opened its financial markets.

Leung, based in Shanghai, will be the most senior executive to step away among global banks in years in China. It comes as lenders are struggling to generate profits and are cutting jobs as China’s economy sputters and geopolitical tension grows.

JPMorgan’s Asia-Pacific CEO Filippo Gori said in May last year that the bank’s China expansion was taking longer than expected and global rivals including Morgan Stanley and UBS Group have been cutting China workforce over the past year.

JPMorgan appointed Leung for the China role in 2018 when it was seeking to create a new securities venture in China. He was previously the global co-head of equities. The bank hadn’t appointed a China CEO since Zili Shao stepped down to become the bank’s vice-chairman in April 2014.

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Globally, chief executive officer Jamie Dimon last week moved some of his top lieutenants into new senior roles, positioning them for more experience running the firm’s operations as he prepares potential successors.

The shuffle, halfway through Dimon’s five-year retention package, places Jenn Piepszak and Troy Rohrbaugh atop an expanded commercial and investment bank. Marianne Lake, who has co-led the consumer and community bank alongside Piepszak since 2021, will get sole control of the segment, overseeing more of its business lines.

Leung started his career at the firm as a fixed Income trader in Hong Kong 25 years ago, and has held multiple management roles in Asia-Pacific including in prime services and as a member of the global corporate and investment banking management committee.

Leung’s departure was earlier reported by Reuters. BLOOMBERG