The China Construction Bank (CCB) went public in Hong Kong last October, the first among the country's Big Four state-owned banks to seek overseas stock market listing.

    Two other Chinese banking giants, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Corporation (ICBC) and the Bank of China (BOC) have already been set for overseas cooperators and are expected to go public this year.

    The government will launch the share-holding reforms of the Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) this year, the premier said in his government report.

    keeping a controlling share in the state's hands is crucial for the big four banks, namely ICBC, BOC, CCB and ABC, to operate in a sound way, which will enable them to have a relatively stableshareholding structure, independent decision-making capacity and stable management mechanism, said Qin Chijiang, an NPC deputy, noting that the four banks are playing important role on the financial market as they account for about 70 percent of the country's financial business volume.

    It is a tough task for China's banks to shift into "commercial banks in real sense," Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People's Bank of China, the central bank, said in a previous address.

    Going public will prompt the banks to speed up their reforms, Zhou said, noting that "There is still a long way to go after public listings."

    China promised to fully open its banking industry to foreign competition by late 2006 under commitments made as a part of its entry into the World Trade Organization.

    Hu Pingxi, also an NPC deputy, said the aim of state-owned banks' going public is not just for funds, but also for transparency in operation, enhancing competition capability with overseas rivals, introducing supervision systems and streamline internal control.

    By the end of 2005, 25 foreign investors are reported to have taken stakes in 20 Chinese banks.

    A senior official with China's financial department said in a previous statement that the introducing overseas strategic investors in state-owned banks will not pose threats to financial security, but will help them to operate healthily. Enditem