Agricultural Bank of China President Xiang Junbo said the time is right for the restructuring of the lender, saddled with US$100 billion of bad loans.

"We're ready for the share reform," Xiang said at the Lujiazui Financial Forum in Shanghai on Saturday. "Agricultural Bank's share reform is the last battle for the nation's commercial bank reform."

China has spent about US$500 billion bailing out its biggest lenders over the past decade. The three largest ?? Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd, Bank of China Ltd, and China Construction Bank Corp ?? raised a combined US$53 billion selling shares in the past two years. ABC's restructuring has been delayed because 23 percent of its loans aren't getting paid, its annual report said.

Xiang wasn't specific on when the reform will take place, Bloomberg News said.

ABC and China Development Bank will get US$67 billion from the nation's sovereign wealth fund, Vice Finance Minister Li Yong said last month. ABC, which holds 12 percent of China's US$4.7 trillion of banking assets, has the worst asset quality and most employees of the big four state-owned lenders.

China is reorganizing state-owned lenders and policy banks and pushing them to sell shares so that international accounting, disclosure and capital adequacy rules can improve their governance.

(Shanghai Daily May 12, 2008)