China AgBank to appoint new VP to quicken listing

BEIJING, May 8 (Reuters) - Agricultural Bank of China [ABC.UL] will soon appoint an experienced banker as its vice president to help accelerate its restructuring and eventual public listing.

AgBank, the only one of China's big state-owned banks that has yet to receive a government bail-out, is expected to get a cash injection sometime this year, paving the way for an initial public offering.

Pan Gongsheng, board secretary of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (601398.SS)(1398.HK), told Reuters on Thursday that he would soon take up the new post at AgBank.

ICBC had said earlier in a statement that Pan would quit his job there for personal reasons and be replaced by Gu Shu, currently head of ICBC's finance and accounting department.

Pan was director of the shareholding reform office at ICBC when the bank kicked off its IPO process at the end of 2004, and was then appointed board secretary in October 2005.

State media have cited Xiang Junbo, AgBank's president, as saying that the lender could offer public shares by 2010. (Reporting by Victoria Bi; Writing by Langi Chiang; Editing by Jason Subler)