China's Bank of Guangzhou eyes IPO in 3 yrs -media

BEIJING, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Bank of Guangzhou, a small city commercial lender in China, plans to get listed in Shanghai within three years and is diversifying its shareholding structure as part of the efforts, a local newspaper reported on Wednesday.

It is inviting bids to sell 2.5 billion shares now held by Guangzhou's city government to a financial investor before October and wants to sell another 20 percent stake to foreign strategic investors, the Guangzhou Daily reported, citing unidentified sources.

The report did not give further details of the share sale plans. The bank is controlled by the city government of Guangzhou, in southern China.

Its profits grew 168 percent in the first half from a year earlier to 1.1 billion yuan ($162 million), with core capital adequacy ratio standing at 12.6 percent at the end of June. It has no bad loans, according to the report.

The newspaper added that Bank of Guangzhou opened its first branch outside the home city in Shenzhen in 2009 and planned to open branches in the country's most developed regions within three years. ($1=6.790 Yuan) (Reporting by Langi Chiang and Simon Rabinovitch; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)