China's second-biggest lender, the Bank of China, plans to seek as many as six strategic investors to bolster its first share sale next year.

An official from the Beijing-based bank's global markets department said it will complete a reorganization of its assets by October.

Bank of China and rival state-owned lender China Construction Bank, the country's third-largest bank, have been given until the end of September to reorganize themselves to sell shares to the public.

Each bank was given US$22.5 billion at the end of last year to help reduce bad loans and reorganize in preparation for the IPOs. 

(CRI.com July 2, 2004)