国际英语新闻：ABC makes subdued debut in Shanghai

BEIJING, July 15 (Xinhua) -- The Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), the country's largest rural lender, made its stock exchange debut in Shanghai Thursday with a slight rise in a declining market.

ABC shares closed at 2.7 yuan (40 U.S. cents) on its first day of trading in Shanghai, up 0.75 percent, or 0.02 yuan from its initial public offering (IPO) price.

With a dual listing in Shanghai and Hong Kong, the Beijing-based bank was the last of China's "big four" state-owned commercial banks to list.

Xiang Junbo, chairman of the bank, said at a ceremony at the Shanghai Stock Exchange Thursday that the successful debut marked "a new era" for China's fourth largest bank, and also an important step for ABC to be a global and first-class commercial bank.

The other three state-owned commercial banks -- the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank and Bank of China -- are listed on both Shanghai and Hong Kong bourses.

The bank's H-share IPO price was set at 3.2 HK dollars per share, and trading on the Hong Kong bourse is set to start Friday.

According to the IPO prospectus, the lender could raise up to 22.1 billion U.S. dollars if an over-allotment option were exercised to expand the deal by 15 percent, making it the world's largest IPO ever.

The previous record was held by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the country's largest lender, which garnered 21.9 billion U.S. dollar IPO in 2006.

However, ABC's IPO came at a tough time for the Chinese stock market, as the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index had declined 26 percent in the first half. Investors were fearing that such a huge IPO would further stretch market liquidity.