The board chairman of the Shougang Group, Zhu Jimin, has said the Beijing-based steel giant is planning to fully list its assets before the end of 2010 when its new production base in neighboring Hebei Province is put into full operation.

"The listing is one of our future goals," said Zhu, without mentioning the specific stock market the company targets at.

Shougang Group now has one subsidiary listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and four on the Hong Kong market.

The Group has been restructuring and optimizing its Hong Kong- listed companies focused on high-end services and high technologies, said Zhu, also a deputy to China's top legislature, the National People's Congress (NPC).

As a flagship enterprise in China's iron and steel industry, Shougang has been vehemently criticized in recent years for polluting the capital city and is considered a handicap in the run- up to the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.

In response to the criticism, the company launched an ambitious plan -- approved by the State Council -- to relocate its plant to Caofeidian in Hebei Province.

The new plant, with an annual production capacity of 9.7 million tons, is scheduled for operation in half capacity in 2008. It will become China's largest steel plant when it is in full operation in 2010.

Source: Xinhua