A special committee in charge of stock issuance under the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has announced that it will deliberate the initial public offering (IPO) application from Air China to trade in the mainland's A-share market.

China's flagship carrier Air China went public simultaneously on the Hong Kong and London bourses in December 2004, raising about US$1 billion on the two stock markets.

Air China will issue no more than 2.7 billion yuan-denominated A-shares on the Chinese mainland stock market, accounting for 22.25 percent of its total shares after the IPO, the Shanghai Securities Journal reported.

Air China plans to raise 8 billion yuan (US$1 billion) this time, and the share price has been set at about 3 yuan.

During the price inquiry period, the issue price of A-shares will not be lower than 90 percent of Air China's H-share (Hong Kong shares) average closing price, the airline said in a statement.

Last Friday, Air China's H-share closed at HK$3.025 (about 3.12 yuan).

Air China will use the funds raised to buy 20 Airbus A330 planes, 15 Boeing 787s and 10 737s, and for its airport expansion project in Beijing.

Frequent jet fuel price hikes in recent years have increased the carrier's operational costs. However, ticket prices cannot follow suit indefinitely, which will ultimately affect the airline's overall performance.

After the central government decided to resume the imposition of a fuel surcharge on customers in October 2005, Air China earned 1.663 billion yuan that year, 1.141 billion more than in 2004.

Due to oil price fluctuations, the Chinese government has agreed to raise fuel surcharges from 20 yuan to 30 yuan for domestic flights up to 800 kilometers, and from 40 to 60 yuan for services over 800 kilometers.

The price adjustment takes effect from April 10 to October 10 this year, and whether or not the government will extend the surcharge period will have an enormous impact on Air China's profit.

Air China would be the second major state-owned firm to go public on the mainland after the Bank of China, which listed earlier this month, following a one-year suspension on IPOs.

Other heavyweight Chinese firms, such as the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the country's biggest commercial bank, and China Mobile, are also reportedly to issue shares on the mainland.

Their planned listings are part of the government's overall capital market development strategy to stabilize and boost the attractiveness of the domestic stock market.

(Xinhua News Agency July 24, 2006)