Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, the nation's biggest lender, will sell shares for the first time after 2006 at the earliest, Jiang Jianqing, the bank's president, said yesterday.

　　The Beijing-based bank, which received a less-than-expected US$15 billion from the Chinese government last month, needs to raise funds in the stock market to meet its capital requirements as lending increases. Jiang refused to comment on the size of the offering which may reach US$10 billion, people familiar with the plan said in March.

　　"The listing will happen after 2006 but we don't know when will it be exactly," Jiang said after addressing a Fortune conference in Beijing. "We're now focusing on the process of restructuring our operations."

　　ICBC hired China International Capital Corp, the biggest investment bank on China's mainland, and two other Hong Kong-based investment banks to advise on its initial public offering. The company needs at least US$50 billion to clear its bad loans, more than three times the government bailout announced last month, Fitch Ratings said earlier.

　　The bank also said it plans to select strategic investors by the end of this year, paving the way for an initial share sale.

　　The Chinese lender expects to cut its bad-loan ratio by 75 percent this year, Jiang said in an interview earlier.

　　(Bloomberg News)