4 major Chinese state banks to raise 520 bln yuan via A-share issuance

China's four major state-owned commercial banks on Sunday announced plans to raise a combined 520 billion yuan (about 72.5 billion U.S. dollars) through the issuance of A-shares targeting specific investors.

The four commercial banks -- Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Bank of Communications, and Postal Savings Bank of China -- revealed their plans through the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

According to their plans, Bank of China aims to raise up to 165 billion yuan, China Construction Bank up to 105 billion yuan, Bank of Communications up to 120 billion yuan, and Postal Savings Bank of China up to 130 billion yuan.

All the four banks have said that the raised funds, after deducting issuance-related costs, will be used to replenish their respective core tier-1 capital.

China's Ministry of Finance (MOF) will participate in the fund-raising with a combined intended subscription of up to 500 billion yuan.

According to this year's government work report, China will issue 500 billion yuan of special treasury bonds to support the capital replenishment of major state-owned commercial banks.

The four banks said that capital replenishment from the MOF is a crucial move from the government to support their stable operations and development.

The banks' senior executives said that the capital replenishment will enable the institutions to promote their own high-quality development, better serve the real economy and stabilize the financial system.

"This capital replenishment will help large state-owned commercial banks further consolidate their capital strength, optimize their capital structure, enhance their ability to operate prudently and prevent risks, and better play a leading role in serving the real economy and working as a ballast stone in maintaining financial stability," said Zhou Quan, general manager of the asset and liability department at Bank of China.

"Supporting large state-owned commercial banks to supplement core tier-1 capital is an important part of the country's package of incremental policies. It will effectively ensure the smooth operation of the financial system and strongly support large state-owned banks to play a greater role in serving economic transformation and development," said Chen Yu, general manager of the financial management department at Bank of Communications' head office.

4 major Chinese state banks to raise 520 bln yuan via A-share issuance

China's warehouse storage sector maintained expansion in March, according to the index released by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP) on Thursday.

In March, China's warehousing index reached 50.8 percent, rising by 0.6 percentage points from the previous month and remaining in the expansion zone for the fifth consecutive month.

Driven by policies aimed at promoting consumption, demand for warehousing services continued to grow steadily, with the consumer goods market performing particularly well. Warehousing demand for food, household appliances, textiles, and daily necessities surged, leading to a significant rise in the new order index.

"The warehouse storage sector has remained in the expansion range for five consecutive months, reflecting the overall stability of the warehousing sector. The demand for warehousing in the livelihood consumption sector continues to strengthen, boosting activity across the entire warehousing sector," said Liu Yuhang, director of the China Logistics Information Center.

In terms of inventory levels, the average inventory turnover index reached 54.5 percent in March, an increase of 8.2 percentage points from the previous month, entering the expansion range. Overall, in the first quarter, the warehousing sector continued to expand, business demand maintained steady growth, and the industry operated smoothly and efficiently.

China's warehousing storage sector maintains expansion in March