Its outstanding loans rose to 292.3 billion yuan as of June 30. Its bad-loan ratio stood at 2.01 percent, lower than the 2.81 percent average of its peers.

The Industrial Bank is among a group of mid-sized commercial banks which followed bigger market players like the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Bank of China to list publicly, raising funds to boost their finances and to help fend off foreign competitors.

Proceeds raised from the IPO will be used to boost its capital adequacy ratio above the minimum regulatory requirement of 8 percent, up from the 7.17 percent it recorded at the end of June 2006, the bank has said.

The funds will also be used to expand its network, build and upgrade information systems and buy fixed assets.

China's main stock index continued to fall yesterday. The Shanghai Composite Index slid 2.27 percent to close at 2,612.537 points, its lowest level since late December.

"The index may continue its weakness within a short period, as investors are withdrawing money from large caps, which are overvalued," said Zhang Qi, an analyst from Haitong Securities.

He added that the recent fall of the market has put pressure on fund managers, as investors tend to withdraw money from fund companies.

Turnover in Shanghai A shares shrank further, to only 54.1 billion yuan yesterday, down from 64.6 billion yuan on Friday.

"But other stocks (apart from large caps) will have a relatively good performance," Zhang said.

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