GREAT Wall Motor Co will apply for approval to launch an initial public offering of A shares in Shanghai to fund its expansion, the car maker said in a statement today.

The Hong Kong-listed company plans to issue up to 121.7 million yuan-denominated A shares, according to the statement. The company said the new shares represent 11.1 percent of its existing issued capital, or 10 percent of its enlarged share capital.

Great Wall, China's largest producer of pickup trucks by output, didn't say how much it plans to raise in the offering or when it would take place.

The company said part of the net proceeds from the IPO will be spent on a factory to produce automatic transmission systems. The project will require a total investment of 530.9 million yuan (US$70 million).

Part of the IPO money will also be spent on research and development, it added.

The plan still needs regulatory and shareholder approval. Trading in the car maker's Hong Kong shares was suspended today.

China's biggest coal miner, Shenhua Energy, raised 66.6 billion yuan in a stock sale in Shanghai last week -- a record amount for a mainland bourse.