Postal Savings Bank of China has quietly launched a fundraising that will let foreign and domestic investors take a 15 per cent stake, ahead of the group’s $25bn initial public offering next year — in a sign of government confidence that it has stabilised the Chinese equity market.

在明年举行规模达250亿美元的首次公开发行(IPO)之前，中国邮政储蓄银行(Postal Savings Bank of China)悄悄启动了一轮融资，将把15%的股份出售给国内外的投资者。这表明，中国政府相信它已稳住了中国股市。

Investors taking part in the pre-IPO capital raising include the Singapore state investment fund Temasek, Swiss bank UBS, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, and the IFC arm of the World Bank, according to people familiar with the plan.

知情人士表示，参与这轮上市前融资的投资者包括新加坡政府投资基金淡马锡(Temasek)、瑞士的瑞银(UBS)、加拿大养老金计划投资委员会(Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board)和世界银行(World Bank)旗下机构国际金融公司(IFC)。

UBS is expected to place its stake with other investors, which may include Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing, the people added. Mr Li’s spokesperson declined to comment.

该人士补充道，瑞银预计会把自己所获股份出售给其他投资者，包括香港大亨李嘉诚(Li Ka-shing)。李嘉诚的发言人拒绝置评。

Other investors — including some local private equity firms — may be added to the list before it is finalised in December.

在这轮融资于12月敲定之前，其他投资者——包括部分国内的私募股权机构——可能会被加入上述名单。

Their investments are being made at a price that values the state-owned bank at just over one times book value — at a time when most other Chinese banks are valued at a discount to book value, reflecting concerns over the quality of their accounting and loan books.

这些投资者入股的价格，略高于这家国有银行的账面价值。目前，中国其他银行的股价大多低于账面价值，说明市场对这些银行的会计和贷款账目质量感到担忧。

Analysts also suggested that China’s decision to go ahead with a listing of the bank next year, at a valuation of up to $25bn, showed that regulators believe the worst is over for the mainland’s stock market. Since hitting a 12-month high on June 12, the Shanghai Composite Index has fallen 33 per cent.

分析师还暗示，中国决定推动邮储银行明年上市，表明监管层认为中国内地股市最艰难的时刻已经过去了。自6月12日创下12个月高点以来，上证综指已下跌了33%。

“The market is now at fair value, the deleveraging is finished, commodities are cheaper, and corporate earnings will improve as interest rates come down, reducing the burden of debt servicing,” said the head of one local asset management firm in Beijing.

“股市目前处于公允价值水平，去杠杆过程已结束，大宗商品便宜了。随着利息下降减轻偿债负担，企业的利润将得到提升，”北京的一家中国资产管理公司的负责人表示。

Postal Savings Bank has attracted widespread investor interest because it has the cheapest funding cost of any bank in China, and a stronger balance sheet than most rivals.

邮储银行引起了投资者的广泛兴趣，原因是它是中国资金成本最低的一家银行，而且其资产负债表比大多数同行都要强健。