An organic fertilizer firm set up by one of China's most prominent businesswomen was today listed on London's Alternative Investment Market (AIM).

Karen Qiong Wang, who has built a personal fortune of about 60 million U.S. dollars since starting Bodisen Biotech Inc. in 2001, comes from China's Shaanxi, a province famous throughout the world for its Terracotta Army.

Wang is seeking to raise about 10 million pounds (17.6 million dollars) as part of her company's AIM listing.

Bodisen Biotech shares hit 920 pence (about 16.19 dollars) each just minutes after the market opened.

Named China's businesswoman of the year in 2004, Wang took Bodisen Biotech to the New York stock market in September 2005.

And since listing on Amex last August the company, which makes more than 60 types of organic fertilizer, has almost doubled in value to more than 240 million dollars.

Bodisen will become the largest Chinese company to be listed on AIM, unseating Asian Citrus, which currently boasts a market capitalization of about 94 million pounds (165.44 million dollars).

Bodisen reported profits of 10 million dollars on sales of about 30 million dollars.

It expects to lift sales to 50 million dollars this year as China bolsters efforts to become self-sufficient in agriculture. Analysts suggested that the market for organic fertilizers -- which, unlike their chemical counterparts, can be absorbed into the soil and broken down -- could be worth as much as 17 billion dollars in China alone.

Proceeds from the financing will be used to build two new factories in Xinjiang in northwest China and Heilongjiang in the northeast.

Wang, the only female chief executive among more than 100 U.S.-listed Chinese companies, said a dual listing in London was an important step in widening Bodisen's shareholder base. Charles Stanley is broker and adviser in the listing.

Source: Xinhua