Bank of China Limited (BOC) was officially listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Exchange and Clearing Limited (HKEx) and the trading of the bank's H share began on Thursday.

BOC is the second listed bank among the four biggest commercial banks in the Chinese mainland and the bank's initial public offering is the world's biggest of the kind in six years.

The debut share price was 3.15 HK dollars, 6.8 percent up over the initial public offering (IPO) price of 2.95 HK dollars.

At 11:00 AM, the share price reached 3.325 HK dollars, 12.7 percent up over the IPO price, with a traded volume of 8.39 billion HK dollars (US$1.76 billion).

BOC Chairman Xiao Gang said at the bank's listing ceremony at the HKEx that the BOC's IPO is one of the most successful IPO programs in the international capital market, which indicated the international investors' confidence in China's long-term economic prosperity and acceptance of the bank's century-old brand.

HKEx Chairman Ronald Arculli said BOC's successful listing reflects Hong Kong's status as an international financial hub, adding Hong Kong is making efforts to attract more companies to list in Hong Kong.

BOC offered a total of 25.57 billion H shares in its global offering, including initially 1.28 billion H shares for the Hong Kong public offering and 24.29 billion H shares for the international offering.

The bank's IPO has received warm response globally. After the bank's IPO by May 23, the application volume for the bank's IPO exceeded 76 times in Hong Kong, 20 times for international offering.

Xiao Gang said, as the oldest and one of the best-known commercial banks in China, BOC has an extensive overseas branch network, a solid customer base and a universal banking platform.

He said BOC is a leader in non-interest income and foreign exchange business with strong product innovation capabilities. The overall listing of the bank in Hong Kong opened another exciting chapter of the Bank's hundred-year history.

(Xinhua News Agency June 1, 2006)