According to one senior commercial banker in Beijing, the foreign lenders include Citicorp, JP Morgan Chase, UBS and Deutsche Bank. 'They're looking for reputable banks that haven't taken stakes in other Chinese banks,' the banker said.

Citicorp, which owns 4.62 per cent of Shanghai Pudong Bank, remains in the running because Shanghai Pudong's small size means it is not a significant competitor to Bank of China. Chinese banks are allowed to sell up to 25 per cent of their shares to foreign partners, with no bank holding more than 20 per cent.

The public listing of Bank of China is being watched as a gauge of China's willingness to adopt western methods of accounting and corporate governance.

'If they can get someone to invest in them as a strategic investor it will send a positive signal to the market and help their [initial public offering] process,' said Standard & Poor's banking analyst Ryan Tsang.

Bank of China's planned IPO is expected as early as next year and may be followed by the listing of Bank of Communications.

Mr Wang said the timing of Bank of China's IPO had not been decided. Bank executives will brief reporters tomorrow on the details of a long-running restructuring of its operations that will be fundamental to the success of the IPO.

Investors will closely examine the details of the restructuring - and the chosen foreign partner - before they become comfortable buying into the IPO.

Mr Wang, before attending a ceremony yesterday marking the bank's appointment as official sponsor of the 2008 Olympic Games, said the Bank of China had operating profits of 30 billion yuan in the first half.

The bank's profits reached 27 billion yuan in the first half of last year. The bank will disclose its earnings for the first half of the year tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Bank of China's non-performing loan ratio was more than 5 per cent at the end of June, following a deal last month that transferred billions of yuan of bad debt to an asset management company, according to a spokeswoman.