Agricultural Bank of China signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the Dutch Rabobank on Wednesday, a move that aims to improve its ability to handle agriculture-related businesses before launching its IPO.

An ABC insider told National Business Daily that the agriculture-focused Rabobank will not become a strategic investor of ABC but didn't say if the bank would buy its shares. Pan Gongsheng, the executive vice president of ABC, said before that the social security fund would be the only strategic investor of the bank.

ABC, China's only unlisted big state lender, is planning an IPO in both Shanghai and Hong Kong in July.

Rabobank Group is an international financial services provider operating on the basis of cooperative principles, focusing on all-finance services in the Netherlands and on food and agriculture internationally.

China's business press carried the story above?on Friday. China.org.cn has not checked the stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.