For many of those investors, the value of their investments soared after the three other state-owned banks went public in Hong Kong and Shanghai in 2005 and 2006. In October, for instance, the largest of them, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, raised about US$21.6 billion in what was the largest initial public offering in history. The two others to sell shares were the China Construction Bank and the Bank of China.

The feverish demand for Chinese banking stocks comes despite the mismanagement, corruption and poor lending practices. Some of the state-owned institutions were considered virtually insolvent five years ago, before the government began wiping debt off their books.

Investors are betting that China's efforts to revamp its big banks will bolster profits and allow the banks to benefit from the country's spectacular economic growth.

The government has spent five years and more than US$400 billion purging bad loans from the books of the four leading state banks, helping prepare them to become shareholder corporations.

The Agricultural Bank is widely thought to be the toughest sell. The bank listed US$93 billion in problem loans in 2005, or 26 percent of all loans.

Another challenge is that the bank, which is policy-driven, has put priority on the needs of China's 900 million farmers and other rural residents.

Last year, the National Audit Office said it had found more than US$6 billion in "irregularities" at the bank in 2004, including problem loans, fraudulent debt securities and suspicious activities.

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