The Bank of China, one of China's "big four" state lenders, said on Monday its planned A-shares will be priced within a range of 3.05 to 3.15 yuan (38.1-39.4 US cents), tracking its HK$2.95 pricing for shares issued in Hong Kong last month.

 

The bank plans to sell up to 10 billion yuan-denominated A-shares, or 3.886 percent of its share capital, on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, making it the number one heavyweight in China's stock market.

 

BOC said the price range reflects "an overall consideration of the trend of the industry, comparison with other listed companies and the stock market development, as well as the bank's H-share prices."

 

Chinese investors are allowed to apply for BOC shares from next Friday, and trading is expected to begin by July 5.

 

In Hong Kong, the bank has raised an equivalent of US$11.2 billion in an initial public offering, the world's fourth biggest. Its shares ended at 3.425 Hong Kong dollars after Friday's trading.

 

China is overhauling its state-owned, debt-laden banking sector prior to fully opening the financial market to foreign banks by the end of this year under a WTO commitment.

 

The government has moved to write off the major banks' bad debts, restructure them into shareholding companies, invite strategic foreign investors and allow them to go public.

 

Of the "big four", China Construction Bank took the lead to go public in Hong Kong last October.

 

(Xinhua News Agency June 19, 2006)