The world's largest wealth management firm is planning big expansion into China, an executive says.

UBS reportedly intends to more than double the number of its Chinese wealth management staff over the next five years.

That view was stated by Kathryn Shih, Asia-Pacific president at UBS, in an interview with Reuters. The report didn’t say how many people now actually work in this part of the bank at present – WealthBriefing is seeking clarification and will update in due course.

Separately, UBS plans to open a new wealth management branch in Shanghai by the end of the first quarter, UBS chief executive was quoted as saying in his opening address at a conference in Shanghai.

"We expect double-digit growth in this market," he reportedly added according to a transcript of his speech circulated at the conference. (The report did not make it clear as to what this meant, such as revenues or net new money.)

In Hong Kong, UBS – as reported by this publication here – has been aggressively expanding its wealth management operations in Kowloon. UBS aims to hire as many as 70 relationship managers for its Kowloon operations by the end of 2016. At the helm of the Kowloon operation is Adeline Chien, who returned to UBS in 2014 as a country team head after earlier left the firm to work for firms including EGF, another Swiss firm. In total, the Kowloon office will have more than 100 staff, covering product specialists and support teams. In June last year, UBS announced it was expanding its Hong Kong market reach with a new office, targeting the wealth management market for entrepreneurs in Kowloon and New Territories. UBS aims to expand assets under management among Kowloon entrepreneurs from its current single-digit percentage share of the total market to a double-digit percentage in the next few years.