The China Securities Regulatory Commission has approved the application of the Daqin Railway Co. for the initial public offering (IPO) of its A shares to raise 14 billion yuan (US$1.75 billion).

The Issuance and Approval Committee of the commission approved the application, the commission said in a statement posted late Monday on its official website. With assets totaling 37.8 billion yuan and major business revenues of 13.1 billion yuan last year, the Daqin Railway Co. operates the major coal shipping railway line in northern China.

The 1,000-km line links Datong City in coal-rich Shanxi Province, northeast China and the port city of Qinhuangdao in Hebei Province.

The company submitted an IPO application for scrutiny and approval to the nation's securities regulator aiming to raise more than 14 billion yuan (US$1.75 billion), the Shanghai Securities Journal reported Tuesday.

The company, which is expected to expand its transportation capacity with the capital it raised from the IPO, shipped 203 million tons of coal from the inland areas for coal-fired power plants along the coastal areas of the country,

The IPO approval came after the commission approved the application by the Bank of China, the country's second biggest bank, to go public on the Shanghai Stock Exchange last month.

The latest IPO would be the second biggest after the bank, which was listed earlier this month with issuance about 6 billion A-shares for about 20 billion yuan, since China resumed initial public offerings (IPO) last month following a year-long suspension.

(Xinhua News Agency July 11, 2006)