Zhou Qingyu, spokesman for the Agricultural Bank of China (ABC),
declared on Wednesday that reports concerning the bank's
restructuring plan by some overseas media were fabricated.
"The overseas media reports concerning the bank's shareholding
reform were false," said Zhou.
According to one of the "false reports", the bank "has received
approval from the State Council for its long-delayed restructuring
plan leading to an initial public offering".
The "false report" said that "central to the plan" are a series
of expected tax breaks aimed at compensating the mainland's second
largest lender by assets for its mandate to provide low-margin
services to the poorer rural sector".
The ABC is the only one of the four largest state-owned banks
that still has not completed shareholding reform and been listed on
the stock market.
China initiated the reform of the "big four" banks after the
First National Financial Work Conference in 1997.
The China Construction Bank was listed on the Hong Kong stock
exchange in October 2005 and on the mainland stock market this
September, while the Bank of China was listed in Hong Kong in June
2006 and in Shanghai in July 2006.
The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the country's
largest commercial bank, was listed on the Shanghai stock exchange
and the Hong Kong stock exchange simultaneously in October
2006.
The guidelines for the ABC's shareholding reform set by the
central government at the Third National Financial Work Conference
this January include "serving the rural economy, farmers and rural
areas, operating commercially and going public when conditions are
mature".
Zhou said everything went smoothly for the shareholding reform,
but did not reveal whether the plan had been submitted to the State
Council or the cabinet.
(Xinhua News Agency December 6, 2007)
