A spokesman for the Bank of China (BOC) said Tuesday in Beijing that the state-owned bank is expected to go initial public offering (IPO) this year.

"We are actively preparing for the share offering, but the listing depends on an opportunity and window to the market. We are doing our best to list the bank in 2005," Wang Zhaowen, the spokesman for the bank, told a press conference.

The leading state-owned bank announced that its operating profits rose a year-on-year 21.3 percent in 2004 to 57.8 billion yuan (7 billion US dollars).

The bank's net profits reached 20.9 billion yuan (2.5 billion dollars), basically keeping the same level with 2003, Wang said at the press conference.

Source: Xinhua