The Bank of China, the country's second biggest bank, plans to go public on the Shanghai Stock Exchange before July 5 as part of the government's capital market development strategy, Shanghai Securities News reported on Monday.

The bank will be the first major state-owned bank to be listed on the mainland since China resumed initial public offerings (IPO) last month following a year-long suspension.

Companies which represent the country's economic growth level should go public domestically, and those which have been listed overseas should also be listed on domestic exchanges, the newspaper quoted what it described as "authoritative sources" as saying.

The government hoped to stabilize the markets by including more major companies, or blue chips, the sources said.

The move was designed to ensure the country's capital markets demonstrate the real level of the country's economic growth and investors would be able to share via the market the benefits of the economic growth, the sources said.

China's stock markets were bearish early this year despite the country's fast economic growth.

Domestic investors have strongly complained that China's most profitable firms, including China Mobile, the country's biggest mobile phone operator, and China National Offshore Oil Co., the Bank of China, have been listed overseas.

Source: Xinhua