Bank of Beijing would become the third Chinese city-level commercial bank to go public following Bank of Nanjing and Bank of Ningbo, as the regulator said it would meet next Monday to discuss the IPO application of the lender.

The bank plans to issue 1.2 billion A shares on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, it said in the draft prospectus submitted to the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) for approval.

The yuan-denominated shares would account for 19.27 percent of its enlarged capital after Shanghai listing, and the shares of the lender were valued at 1.96 yuan per share before going public.

The bank did not reveal how much it aimed to raise from the IPO, however, earlier reports said it hoped to raise about 13 billion yuan (US$ 1.7 billion) on the domestic equity market.

It said the raised fund would be used to boost its capital adequacy ratio and its capabilities of risk control and profit making.

The lender said it would launch an H-share IPO "at an appropriate time" after its A-share listing. The detailed plan of Hong Kong listing, including the pricing and timing, is yet to be approved by its shareholders, according to the prospectus.

Bank of Beijing reported a net profit of 550 million yuan (US$ 72.4 million) in the first quarter this year with its assets totaled 263.98 billion yuan (US$ 34.7 billion) by the end of March, and its capital adequacy ratio stood at 13.23 percent and non-performing loan ratio at 3.34 percent.

The Dutch banking and insurance group ING holds a 19.9 percent stake in the bank as the largest shareholder. The International Financial Corporation holds a five percent stake as the fourth largest shareholder.

Established in 1996, the bank currently has a registered capital of 5.03 billion yuan (US$ 661.8 million).

The CSRC has allowed two city commercial banks, namely Bank of Nanjing and Bank of Ningbo, to list shares on the Shanghai bourse in July, which raised a combined 11.07 billion yuan (US$ 1.46 billion).

Other city commercial banks, including Bank of Shanghai, Bank of Tianjin, Hangzhou City Commercial Bank and Bank of Chongqing, also announced plans to raise funds by going public. There are 114 small city commercial banks in operation in China.

(Xinhua News Agency August 27 2007)