Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd., China's biggest lender by assets, is expected to list its shares in Hong Kong as early as September, a news report said Tuesday, joining a state banks listing parade.

Its initial public offering (IPO) is estimated at 100 billion Hong Kong dollars, one of the highest in the world, the Xinhua-run Shanghai Securities News said, dwarfing the 75.4 billion Hong Kong dollars IPO made by Bank of China, the nation's No. 2 lender, in May.

ICBC president Yang Kaisheng, quoted by the paper, said the bank has a "concrete timetable" for its listing preparations.

China hopes its "big four" state banks, including ICBC, BOC, China Construction Bank and Agricultural Bank of China, strengthen corporate governance and streamline operation through market listing, while foreign investors are also eager to buy Chinese bank shares to tap into the sizzling Chinese economy.

The Bank of China shares were snapped up on its June 1 debut and soared more than 20 percent by Monday, defying jitters about the recent turmoil in Asian stock markets.
The Xinhua newspaper said ICBC plans to submit its listing application next week to the Hong Kong stock exchange for scrutiny, citing an unnamed senior manager of the bank. It added China's banking regulator gave the nod for the bank's IPO plan in mid-March.

ICBC is also projected to issue the renminbi-denominated A-shares in China's inland market soon after its Hong Kong listing. A previewing view among Chinese brokerages is that the bank's A-share offering will be materialized later this year, if market conditions are suitable.

China's stock market surged in recent months -- but followed by sharp declines on worries that more fund-raising activity by large state-owned firms would divert cash from existing stocks.

ICBC chairman Jiang Jianqing has said he expects the bank, by stock market value, to become one of the world's top 10 banks, with 2006 business profits exceeding 100 billion yuan (12.5 billion U.S. dollars).

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