ELONG Inc., an online travel services provider in China, plans to raise up to US$59 million in the latest NASDAQ initial public offering by a Chinese firm, according to a U.S. regulatory filing.

The company aims to follow in the NASDAQ footsteps of rival Ctrip.com International Ltd., whose shares are up 117 percent from their December IPO that raised US$75.6 million.

China��s fast-growing travel industry was worth US$47 billion in 2002, according to the China National Tourism Administration, although the sector is highly fragmented among 11,500 travel agencies.

Loss-making eLong has tapped Deutsche Bank to sell 4.385 million American Depositary Shares (ADS) of the firm in an indicated range of US$11.50-$13.50 apiece. Existing shareholders will also sell some of their holdings through the listing.

An over-allotment option could push the value of the deal up to US$68 million.

The company, which expects net proceeds of US$40.3 million from the IPO, is the latest Chinese online firm to tap U.S. investors to fund its growth.

Chinese online recruitment firm 51job Inc. raised US$73.5 million in a NASDAQ IPO last month.

ELong generated revenue of US$7.3 million in the first half of this year, an increase of 146 percent from a year earlier. But the firm recorded a net loss of US$653,638 for the first half, compared with a US$408,937 loss in the first half of 2003.

ELong generated net earnings of US$195,232 on revenues of US$8.99 million last year. That compared with Ctrip��s net earnings of US$6.44 million on revenues of US$20.92 million.

Source; Shenzhen Daily/Agencies