A combined photo shows Guo Shuqing (L), former chairman of China Construction Bank Corp. and Xiang Junbo, former chairman of Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. [File photo]

China Construction Bank Corp. chairman Guo Shuqing and Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. chairman Xiang Junbo resigned Friday to take unspecified new jobs, stoking speculation that the government plans to reshuffle its finance sector.

They resigned because of a "need related to the country's financial work," the banks said in their statements filed to the Shanghai Stock Exchange, according to a Xinhua News Agency report.

Speculation has been widespread in recent months that the heads of China's banking and insurance sectors would undergo a shake-up as the top regulators have reached  their retirement age.

Liu Mingkang, chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC), and Wu Dingfu, chairman of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC), have both turn 65 years old, a required age to retire from their posts.

Xiang Junbo, 54, may be appointed chairman of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission, and Guo Shuqing, 55, is expected to take the head of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, Reuters reported yesterday, citing three sources.

The final decision is yet to be confirmed by the Communist Party's Organisation Department, which is in charge of key personnel moves for government and Party bodies, state-owned businesses, and the military.

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