HONG KONG (Reuters) - The Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd (>> Hong Kong Exch&Clear), the world's No.2 exchange operator, said it had appointed the ex-chief executive of subway operator MTR (>> MTR Corp.), Chow Chung-kong, as chairman.

The exchange would continue to bank on China's economic development to help fuel the HKEx's expansion, Chow, 61, told reporters after he was elected by the board.

"We continue to look for opportunities coming from China's economic development and policies," he told reporters. "It's not the first time we're talking about international growth, and we've seen substantial results in the past two years."

Chow, who was knighted in 2000 and whose appointment must be approved by the Hong Kong chief executive, replaces former chairman Ronald Arculli, who stepped down due to a term limit of six years.

Under Chief Executive Charles Li, the exchange has embarked on talks with banks for a loan to help it finance an offer for the London Metal Exchange, a source told Reuters on April 12.

It has also rolled out a number of new products in the past few years, including launching yuan currency futures last week, as it seeks to catch up with rivals such as CME Group (>> CME Group Inc.), which already offers products in the Chinese currency to its customers.

(Reporting by Kelvin Soh and Twinnie Siu; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Stocks treated in this article : MTR Corp., Hong Kong Exch&Clear, CME Group Inc.