According to Pan Gongsheng, a ranking ICBC executive in charge of the bank's merger and acquisition business, it's possible that ICBC will complete another acquisition deal in 2008.

The bank still plans to buy into Thailand's ACL bank, even though Bangkok Bank postponed the sale of a 19.3-percent stake in ACL to ICBC, which had been set for the end of 2007.

Bangkok Bank's sale of the ACL stake will wait for the promulgation of Thailand's new commercial law in 2008, which is expected to raise the stake foreign-funded enterprises may hold from 25 percent to 49 percent.

Kulathida Sivayathorn, executive vice president of Bangkok Bank, said in mid-December that ICBC might purchase another 30.6 percent of ACL from the country's Ministry of Finance.

ICBC would hold a 49.9-percent stake in ACL bank if both deals succeed.

Pan said that US financial institutions, battered by the sub-prime mortgage crisis, might also be on ICBC's list "if such a deal facilitates our strategic development."

ICBC agreed to acquire a controlling stake in Indonesia's Halim Bank in December 2006 and Macao's Seng Heng Bank in August 2007.

Jiang said: "International business accounts for only three percent of all our business and we hope to increase the proportion to 10 percent."

Listed in Shanghai and Hong Kong, the ICBC overtook Citigroup in July 2007 as the world's biggest bank by market capitalization.

(Xinhua News Agency March 5, 2008)