PETROCHINA AIMS TO RAISE $6BN IN MAINLAND LISTING

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PetroChina yesterday announced plans to launch one of the biggest ever public offerings of shares on the mainland market, making it the latest in a series of large state-owned company to seek a Shanghai listing.

China's largest oil and gas group, which is already listed in Hong Kong, said it would issue up to 4bn shares in Shanghai. At yesterday's closing price in Hong Kong, it would raise up to $6bn, just short of the record mainland initial public offering by Industrial and Commercial Bank of China last year which raised $6.1bn.

The planned PetroChina offering is one of a series of recent announcements about new share issues that appear to be part of a government effort to damp investor exuberance by increasing the supply of new shares coming on to the market.

News of the PetroChina listing helped push the Shanghai Composite index down 2.1 per cent to 4,181 points yesterday. In early trading, the index had been closing in on the high reached last month of 4,335 points that prompted the government to raise trading taxes to reduce speculation.

“We believe introducing more IPOs into the market is a more positive move than other government intervention,” said Li Xianming, strategic analyst at Ping An Securities in Shenzhen.

In the latest indication of huge demand for shares, shipping group Cosco Holdings attracted subscriptions worth $214bn for the $2bn IPO it is conducting in the Shanghai market.

The Chinese government has been trying to persuade the large Chinese companies listed in Hong Kong and other overseas markets also to sell shares on the Shanghai market.

China Construction Bank announced last week it would list in Shanghai this year. China Mobile is also considering selling shares in Shanghai in what could be the biggest mainland IPO.




中石油(PetroChina)昨日宣布计划推出中国内地股市历史上规模最大的首次公开发行(IPO)之一，使其成为一系列寻求在上海上市的大型国有企业中最新的一家。

这家已经在香港上市的中国最大油气集团表示，将在上海发行最多40亿股A股。按照该公司昨日在香港的收盘价计算，此次发行将募集资金多达60亿美元，仅次于中国工商银行(Industrial and Commercial Bank of China)去年创下的募资61亿美元的内地公司IPO纪录。

中石油拟议进行的IPO，是中国最近宣布的一系列新股发行计划之一。中国政府似乎正在努力通过增加市场新股供应量，来抑制投资者的热情。
中石油回归本土上市的消息，促使上证综合指数昨日下挫2.1%，收于4181点。在前市交易中，上证综合指数一度接近上月创下的4335点的高点。上月股市达到的这一点位，促使政府提高了股票交易印花税，以抑制投机行为。

平安证券(Ping An Securities)驻深圳的策略分析师李先明表示：“我们认为，相对于政府的其它干预方式，向市场引入更多IPO是一种更积极的举动。”

市场对股票需求旺盛的最新迹象是，船运集团中远控股(Cosco Holdings)将在上海进行的20亿美元的IPO，吸引了2140亿美元的认购资金。

中国政府一直设法说服在香港或其它海外市场上市的大型中国企业同样在上海发行股票。

中国建设银行(China Construction Bank)上周宣布，将于今年在上海上市。中国移动(China Mobile)也在考虑在上海上市，有可能成为中国内地股市规模最大的IPO。