China Merchants Bank, the 6th largest lender in China, closed its first day trading in the Hong Kong stock exchange Friday at 10.68 HK dollars, up 25 percent from its IPO price of 8.55 HK dollars.

The bank's shares opened its morning session at 10.9 HK dollars, up 27.4 percent from its IPO price, and in about seven minutes climbed to the day's high of 11.4 HK dollars.

During the first day's session, the share price fluctuated between 10.62 HK dollars and 11.14 HK dollars, with 1.06 billion shares changed hands valuing 11.6 HK dollars.

"The successful listing of our bank in the Hong Kong stock exchange is a milestone for our bank's development. Our target is to make the bank the most competitive and best one," said Qin Xiao, chairman of the bank, at the listing ceremony held here in Hong Kong.

The retail trenches of the bank's Hong Kong IPO had been oversubscribed by 265 times, with its international tranche substantially oversubscribed.

China Merchants Bank is the second mainland bank after Bank of China to list both its 'A' and 'H' shares, and also the fourth mainland bank listed in Hong Kong. It has been listed on the Shanghai stock exchange since 2002.

The bank's assets stand at 824.3 billion yuan (US$103.6 billion). It has loans totaling 531.6 billion yuan (US$67.4 billion) and holds deposits of 703.6 billion yuan (US$88.5 billion).

The bank estimated that its profits for 2006 would jump 47percent to 5.5 billion yuan (US$691 million).

(Xinhua News Agency September 23, 2006)