China National Gold Corp (CNGC) - the country's largest gold producer - has applied to the China Securities Regulatory Commission to list its subsidiary Zhongjin Gold Holdings on the domestic stock market, an official confirmed yesterday.
The planned listing forms part of a wider restructuring of China's gold industry aimed at increasing deregulation, boosting efficiency and attracting overseas investment and technology.
China is the world's fifth-largest gold producer with a volume of 181.83 million tonnes last year, which is expected to reach a record 190 million tonnes this year.
Zhongjin is majority-owned by state-owned CNGC, with other major shareholders including Shenzhen-listed Citic Guoan - a 50 per cent subsidiary of Hong Kong-listed conglomerate Citic Pacific, and Zhongyuan Gold Smeltering Factory, according to the CNGC official.
It was too early to say when the listing would take place or what the fund-raising target would be, the official said, but the main assets to be listed would include gold production and smelting operations.
His comments came two days after mainland media quoted Cheng Fuming, director-general of the Gold Bureau at the State Economic and Trade Commission, as saying CNGC had injected its quality assets into Zhongjin ahead of a spin-off.
