The board chairman of the Shougang Group, Zhu Jimin, has said
the Beijing-based steel giant is planning to fully list its assets
before the end of 2010 when its new production base in neighboring
Hebei Province is put into full operation.
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"The listing is one of our future goals," said Zhu, without
mentioning the specific stock market the company targets at.
Shougang Group now has one subsidiary listed on the Shenzhen
Stock Exchange and four on the Hong Kong market.
The Group has been restructuring and optimizing its Hong Kong-
listed companies focused on high-end services and high
technologies, said Zhu, also a deputy to China's top legislature,
the National People's Congress (NPC).
As a flagship enterprise in China's iron and steel industry,
Shougang has been vehemently criticized in recent years for
polluting the capital city and is considered a handicap in the
run-up to the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.
In response to the criticism, the company launched an ambitious
plan -- approved by the State Council -- to relocate its plant to
Caofeidian in Hebei Province.
The new plant, with an annual production capacity of 9.7 million
tons, is scheduled for operation in half capacity in 2008. It will
become China's largest steel plant when it is in full operation in
2010.
(Xinhua News Agency March 11, 2007)