China CITIC Bank, the country's seventh largest commercial bank, plans to go public on the mainland and in Kong Kong simultaneously in the first half of this year, raising 21.8 billion Hong Kong dollars.

"Almost all the national joint-stock commercial banks have listed and it will be CITIC Bank's turn," the China Securities Journal quoted an anonymous official with the bank as saying.

"All the preparations for the dual listings are in order and the bank is waiting for regulatory approval," said the official.

By listing on the mainland and in Hong Kong, the bank aims to strengthen corporate governance in line with international practice and raise more capital.

"Most large-and medium-sized enterprises, especially financial institutions like the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, have opted for dual listing as their first choice and the CITIC Bank will not be an exception," said Kong Dan, board chairman of the CITIC Group.

The asset quality of CITIC bank was up to the standard for a listed bank in the Renminbi-denominated A-share market, said the report.

The bank had 689.5 billion yuan (US$88.4 billion) in assets at the end of September last year, with pre-tax profits of 5.7 billion yuan, according to the bank's report for the third quarter last year.

Its capital adequacy ratio (CAR), the measure of its own capital in proportion to its outstanding loans, was 9.18 percent, while non-performing loan ratio was 2.79 percent.

Although the bank's 2006 report is yet to be published, it is unlikely that the capital adequacy ratio has reached 12 percent as acquired for an initial public offering in Hong Kong, said analysts.

To improve its capital adequacy in a short period, the bank is expected to receive a capital injection from its parent company, CITIC Group.

The previously wholly state-owned CITIC Bank was transformed into a joint-stock company and renamed CITIC Bank Co. Ltd. in December last year.

(Xinhua News Agency January 27, 2007)