The Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, said the meeting between Cryan and HNA CEO Adam Tan took place last week in Frankfurt. The paper reported last month that Cryan had resisted meeting HNA.

Deutsche Bank and a representative for HNA declined to comment.

Earlier this year, the German lender disclosed that the Chinese conglomerate had built up a stake of just under 10 percent.

(Reporting by Andreas Framke and Tom Sims, editing by Louise Heavens)