OREANDA-NEWS. October 17, 2014. The little known Asia head of Mercuria will be key in tying the Swiss commodity trader's USD3.5 billion acquisition of JP Morgan Chase and Co's physical commodity desk into the company's China business.

One of China's first oil traders in the 1980s, Han Jin set up Mercuria's Beijing office at the same time it opened its Geneva headquarters in 2004, giving Mercuria what he describes as a "rich color of China" - a focus on the country - from day one.

A long-time friend of Mercuria co-founder Marco Dunand - Han and his young family once lived in Dunand's London apartment - the Mercuria China head is known as a strong relationship builder, who can network with bureaucrats and energy officials.

He was the third active founding director when Dunand and Daniel Jaeggi set up the commodities firm, now looking to challenge metal trading giants such as Glencore Plc (GLEN.L) and Trafigura AG TRAFGF.UK.

"Where we differentiate from our competitors is our marathon style race," Han told Reuters by phone from his base in Geneva.

Mercuria, already the largest foreign importer of fuel oil to China, has been positioning itself for further liberalization of.

Mercuria has pledged to spend 9 billion yuan (USD 1.5 billion) by 2016/17 to build crude terminals and storage tanks in eastern Shandong province, an investment unmatched by competitors, betting that the facilities will be in hot demand when the market opens.

Han says the trader will be able to leverage JPMorgan's strength in gas and power markets in North America after the closing of the deal in the next few weeks to boost its growth.

"This acquisition will strengthen Mercuria China's crude oil, LNG and metals business," Han said.

His near-term plans include bringing to China JPMorgan's Henry Bath & Sons Ltd metals warehousing firm, a prize asset with facilities from Singapore to Rotterdam.

The move would follow an alleged financing fraud at China's Qingdao port that has left banks and traders, including Mercuria, exposed to at least USD 930 million in losses.

The alleged scam - in which a Chinese trading firm is suspected by local authorities of fraudulently using a single cargo of metal as collateral for multiple loans - has shaken the confidence of banks and merchants in Western metals storage firms that rely on local agents to oversee warehouse operations.