China National Coal Group Corp. (China Coal), the country's second largest coal producer, aims to be listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange in mid-November this year.

China Coal plans to raise US$1 billion through its initial public offering in Hong Kong, according to Friday's Beijing News.

According to the corporation's 11th Five-Year (2006-2010) development plan, it aims to increase the group's coal production capacity to 150 million tons by 2010.

Figures show that in 2005 China Coal produced 71.86 million tons of coal, second only to Shenhua Group, China's top coal producer, which is already listed in Hong Kong.

When Shenhua launched its IPO in Hong Kong in June 2005, its issuance price was 7.5 Hong Kong dollars per share with only 23 billion Hong Kong dollars raised, lower than the target volume of 28.3 billion HK dollars.

(Xinhua News Agency September 23, 2006)