The Bank of Shanghai has submitted its listing application to the banking regulator and is targetting an initial public offering (IPO) this year, the Shanghai Securities News reported on Thursday, citing a government official.

Other state-run financial institutions in the city, including Guotai Junan Securities and Orient Securities, are also planning listings, and the Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank plans to launch an IPO within three years, Fang Xinghai, director of the Shanghai Financial Services Office, was quoted as saying.

Shanghai, China's financial hub and the country's most populous city, plans to lift the securitisation rate of its 16 financial assets to 85 percent by 2013 from 63 percent in 2010, Fang was quoted as saying.

The paper did not specify the potential size of Bank of Shanghai's listing, but earlier media reports said it planned to issue up to 1.2 billion shares. [ID:nTOE64U00M]

Strong appetite for Chinese IPOs, especially those of financial institutions, have encouraged a wave of city commercial banks to seek listings, including Chongqing Rural Commercial Bank Co Ltd, Bank of Beijing and Bank of Nanjing

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