CHINA Citic Bank Corp raised US$5.4 billion listing shares in Hong Kong and Shanghai, the company said, in the world's biggest initial public offering this year.

China's eighth-largest bank raised HK$28.7 billion (US$3.7billion) selling 4.89 billion shares at HK$5.86 each in Hong Kong, it said in a statement to the city's stock exchange today. It sold 2.3 billion shares at 5.8 yuan each in Shanghai, raising 13.34 billion yuan (US$1.7 billion). The IPO values the state-owned lender at US$28.9 billion, according to Bloomberg.

Chinese banks led by Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd have raised almost US$60 billion selling shares in the past two years, enabling them to step up lending and fuel the fastest economic growth in a decade.