Dame Jenny Shipley has resigned from her role as director of China Construction Bank New Zealand.

Last week, the former Prime Minister was ordered to pay creditors up to $6 million for her part in the collapse of construction company Mainzeal.

Shipley says her resignation is in the best interests of the company, and she plans to turn her attention to personal and legal matters related to Mainzeal.

Shipley also courted controversy in recent weeks when an article appeared in China's People's Daily website under her byline.

She denies she wrote the piece, headlined 'We need to learn to listen to China', which came out at a time of faced strained relationships with China over the Huawei issue.