China's CITIC Bank, the seventh largest commercial bank on the Chinese mainland, has been transformed into a joint-stock company and is likely to list this year.

The State Administration for Industry and Commerce last Sunday issued the previously wholly state-owned bank with a new business license. The bank's new name is CITIC Bank Co., Ltd., the bank said in a Friday press release.

The move reflects solid progress in the bank's corporate governance and lays the foundation for stable, healthy development in the future, says the press release.

The bank submitted its share reform plan to the State Council last May. Its president Chen Xiaoxian has said the bank will list in Hongkong early this year and later on mainland stock markets.

Last November, Spanish banking group Banco Bilbao Vizcay Argentaria (BBVA) signed an agreement to buy a five-percent stake in CITIC Bank for 989 million euros (1.128 billion U.S. dollars).

Three of China's four major state-owned commercial banks have gone public since China launched share reforms in state-owned lenders in 2003. The Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) will be the last one to list.

The ABC is speeding up its share reforms and intends to list as soon as possible, said Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the central bank.

With 416 branches, CITIC Bank had total assets of 689.5 billion yuan (86.2 billion U.S. dollars) at the end of September, 11.84 percent up on the end of 2005.

It raked in a pre-tax profit of 5.7 billion yuan from January to September last year, with its non-performing loan ratio down to 2.79 percent and a capital adequacy ratio of 9.18 percent.

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