The Bank of Beijing is preparing to list on the A-share market on the Chinese mainland and H-share market of Hong Kong this year, bank sources have said.

 

"Everything is ready and we'll apply to governing bodies for approval soon," said a source with the commercial bank, who declined to be named.

 

The source said the Bank of Beijing plans to raise US$1 billion through simultaneous listing on the mainland and Hong Kong stock markets. The source did not provide further details about the listing.

 

Listing on the stock market is just one of the ways through which the bank could expand, the source was quoted as saying by China Securities Journal.

 

According to plan, the bank will explore private banking services and expand community banking services, to include both the general public and private banking service clients.

 

The Bank of Beijing boasted assets totaling 272.2 billion yuan (US$34 billion) at the end of June last year. The rate of non-performing loans was 4.08 percent.

 

The ING Group of the Netherlands, holding 19 percent, and the International Finance Company (IFC) under the World Bank, holding 5 percent, are both foreign strategic investors with an interest in the bank.

 

To date, nine of the country's city commercial banks, which number more than a hundred, have introduced foreign strategic investors. The Bank of Beijing is striving to become the first to list on the stock market.

 

Other city commercial banks must introduce strategic investors before they can apply for listing, said Xia Bin, head of the Finance Research Institute under State Council's Development Research Center.

 

(Xinhua News Agency March 15, 2007)