Bank of America (BOA) and a Singaporean financial institution have actually paid a combined US$3.966 billion for shares of the China Construction Bank (CCB) held by an investment arm of the Chinese government, the CCB said in a statement Thursday.

BOA and the Asia Financial Holdings Pte. Ltd. (AFH), a wholly-owned subsidiary of an investment arm of the Singaporean government, the Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited, signed respective agreements with the Central Huijin Investment Corporation Ltd. to purchase its holdings of CCB shares.

Huijin was set up one year ago to inject funds into and boost the capital base of China's state-owned banks on behalf of the central government.

The CCB statement said that BOA paid US$2.5 billion for a 9 percent stake of CCB, while AFH paid US$1.466 billion for a 5.1 percent ownership.

China is in the midst of overhauling its state banks, including CCB, ahead of the World Trade Organization-mandated opening of the financial market to overseas rivals by the end of 2006.

State banks hope to sharpen their competitive edge partly by inviting foreign investors who boast sophisticated management and resorting to public listing.

(Xinhua News Agency September 9, 2005)