The mainland's banks have never looked in better shape. On April 6th China Construction Bank, the country's third-largest lender, reported its results for 2005. Although net income dipped a bit, operating profit (a better reflection of its underlying business) rose by 17%, boosted by robust loan growth in a booming economy. The bank's shares have risen in price by more than half since it listed in Hong Kong last October, the first of the "Big Four" state banks to do so. Meanwhile, the share price of the smaller Bank of Communications (BoCom) has doubled since listing last year. No wonder that Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Bank of China (BOC), another two of the Big Four, are as eager to sell shares this year as foreign investors are to buy them.
展开▼
