China's securities regulator formally okayed on Thursday the initial public offering (IPO) of China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC), one of the nation's largest road and rail project contractors.

The company received the formal approval by China Securities Regulatory Commission for its plan to issue 2.8 billion yuan-denominated A shares through the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the prospectus will be released on Friday, said an official with the commission.

The official, who required anonymity, didn't disclose the specific date of listing at the Shanghai bourse.

The CRCC was preparing to issue another 1.8 to 2.07 billion shares in Hong Kong and hoped the total capital raised in Shanghai and Hong Kong could reach 4 billion U.S. dollars, according to the company's prospectus submitted for approval last month.

It said the capital raised would be used to procure construction facilities, expand the manufacturing capacity of mechanical equipment and invest in properties and railways.

Citic Securities would lead the underwriting, said the prospectus.

The CRCC established its name by building the Qinghai-Tibet railroad, Shanghai maglev rail line and the Beijing-Kowloon Railway. It also took the largest share in the bidding for civil engineering of the long-delayed express railway linking Beijing and Shanghai.

The company's total assets amounted to 155 billion yuan by the end of November 2007, with net profit reaching 2.8 billion yuan.

The Ministry of Railways said Tuesday it will expand reforms that would transform state-owned railway contractors into joint stock companies.

China plans to extend its total operating railway mileage to 100,000 kilometers by 2020 from 76,600 km at the end of 2006, demanding an investment of about 2 trillion yuan (269 billion U.S. dollars).

(Xinhua News Agency February 15, 2008)