BoC eyes stake sale to foreign investors

Bank of China said it hopes to sell more than 10% of its shares to a number of foreign investors, Reuters reported, citing the bank's president Li Lihui, who said the bank could list its shares late this year or early next. Li said the bank's restructuring would lead to some layoffs, but ruled out the possibility of "large-scale layoffs". Separately, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the mainland's largest lender, said it would set up a joint-stock bank by October to prepare for its IPO in 2006 or 2007.