China Construction Bank, one of the big four state-owned commercial banks, plans to list on a stock market in the first half of next year, the Securities Daily reported, citing a government official.

The newspaper quoted an unnamed official from the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) as saying that China Construction Bank was targeting a stock offering in the first half of next year, which will be followed later in the year with an offer from the Bank of China.

The official said the China Construction Bank will decide where to list based on market conditions.

At the end of last year, the Central Government picked Bank of China and China Construction Bank as two pilots for the country's ambitious banking sector reform program.

Both banks have finished a restructuring process in preparation for a global offering and are now introducing foreign strategic investors.

Neither of the two banks have given their listing plans yet. Li Lihui, Bank of China's president said in November that he expected the bank to meet listing requirements sometime next year.

Construction Bank recorded an operating profit of 49.94 billion yuan for the nine months to September, up 21.5 percent from last year.

(Shenzhen Daily December 27, 2004)