The international financial centre has made a senior commercial appointment in Hong Kong.

Jersey Finance has appointed An Kelles as business development director for Greater China, replacing Yumei Zhang who has left the organisation.

Kelles joins from Intertrust Group’s Hong Kong office, where she was business unit director for the European and private equity teams. Before that, she was a corporate lawyer and business unit manager at ATC Corporate Services in Luxembourg, which later merged with Intertrust. She has also worked in the international business team of law firm Matheson in Dublin, Ireland.

Based in Hong Kong, Kelles will be responsible for identifying opportunities for Jersey's financial services businesses, while building relationships between Hong Kong, Greater China and Jersey.

Jersey Finance opened its Hong Kong office in 2009. In 2014 it established a presence in Shanghai, which continues to be headed up by project manager Garry Zhao.

“We see the Greater China region as an area of growth and opportunity for the future prospects of Jersey’s finance industry, and we are continuing to expand our range of promotional and business development activities, and embed Jersey’s reputation as a high quality jurisdiction in the region,” said Jersey Finance's deputy chief executive, Richard Corrigan.

“With her significant amount of specific corporate and alternative fund experience and understanding of European and Asian markets, coupled with the significant contribution and progress made by her predecessor Yumei Zhang, An will prove a really valuable addition to our global business development team.”