China Construction Bank (CCB), which has been listed in Hong Kong, so far has no plan of listing on the domestic A-share market, said CCB board chairman Guo Shuqing, also a political advisor.

 

"The CCB's Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) last year exceeded 13 percent, which was a relatively high level, so the bank so far has no plan of domestic listing," Guo told Xinhua on the sidelines of the Tenth National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), which opened on March 3.

 

The bank's CAR, a measure of its available capital in proportion to its outstanding loans, was already above the eight percent requirement by international standard.

 

A-share market trading is limited to Chinese mainland investors and a handful of foreign institutions only. Many Chinese companies chose to list overseas when the mainland stock market was bearish from 2001 to 2005.

 

CCB is the country's third largest commercial bank and one of the "Big Four" state banks.

 

There has been no specific plan concerning the CCB's overseas purchase, Guo said, adding the bank's newly-added loans in January amounted to 70 billion yuan (US$9 billion).

 

Guo said the preparation for a share-holding reform has been steadily underway. The central government selected the CCB, Bank of China, and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China for share-holding reform in September 2003. The three banks have gone public in Hong Kong.

 

The CCB, listed in Hong Kong in October 2005, was the first Chinese mainland's major state-owned commercial bank listed overseas among the "Big Four" state banks, which also comprises Agricultural Bank of China.

 

The Bank of China and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China are now listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

 

(Xinhua News Agency March 7, 2007)