Bank of China aims to issue new HK shares soon

BEIJING, March 11 (Reuters) - Bank of China (3988.HK) (601988.SS) wants to issue additional Hong Kong-listed H shares as soon as possible in a follow-on offering equal to 20 percent of its existing share capital, the chairman of China's fourth-largest lender by assets said on Thursday.

Xiao Gang said the lender was seeking approval from shareholders and regulators on the mainland and in Hong Kong for the share issuance.

Xiao was speaking to a news briefing during China's annual session of parliament.

Analysts briefed by the bank in January had said Bank of China was considering a new share sale in Hong Kong to raise capital, supplementing plans for a convertible bond issue of up to 40 billion yuan ($5.86 billion) to shore up its capital base and maintain its lending capacity. [ID:nTOE60O051] ($1=6.825 Yuan) (Reporting by Xie Heng, George Chen and Edmund Klamann; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)