Bank of China, the country's largest foreign exchange bank, hoped to sell more than 10 percent of its shares to a number of foreign investors, Li Lihui, its president, said Monday.

The bank is in talks with several strategic investors prior to a public listing of its shares, which Li said could happen late this year or early in 2006.

"It should be over 10 percent," Li said, when asked about the size of the stake. "We hope this happens, but it will ultimately depend on the result of negotiations."

Asked about the timing of the listing, he said, "We may have to wait until around the end of this year or some time next year. We will have to wait for market opportunity."

The bank has hoped for a stock listing this year, but executives have grown increasingly conservative when talking about a timetable for an offering that is expected to raise several billion dollars.

On the sidelines of the International Monetary Conference, a forum for leading commercial bankers from around the world, Li said no decision had been made on where the shares would be listed.

UBS, JP Morgan and Deutsche Bank have all been mentioned as potential investors to help turn BOC, the second-biggest State-run banks, into a lender run along sound commercial lines.

Li said he was confident the bank would be able to compete head-to-head with foreign banks, which were to gain full access to China's huge domestic market at the end of 2006, according to the terms of entry to the World Trade Organization.

Source:Shenzhen Daily