By Xiao Junxiu (肖君秀 )  
Economic Observer Online
Oct 19, 2011
Translated by Zhu Na
Original Article:[Chinese]

Given that all four of China's largest commercial banks are due to publish their financial reports for the third quarter at the end of Oct, Central Huijin Investment Ltd. (Central Huijin), a state investment company that was recently reported to have begun increasing its stake in China's bank on the secondary market, will be forced to halt acquisitions for 10 days.

As of Oct 17, a restriction period came into force for both the Bank of China and the Agricultural Bank of China who are scheduled to release a financial reports on Oct 27. According to Chinese listing regulations, large shareholders are forbidden from trading in shares 10 days before the release of regular financial reports.

Similar rules will also apply to shares of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and China Construction Bank that are slated to present their reports to the stock exchanges on Oct 28 and Oct 29 respectively.

Xinhua News Agency broke the news of Central Huijin's plans to start uping their stakes in the four large banks on Oct 10, with media reporting that Central Huijin purchased a total of 200 million in shares on that day.

According to what the EO has learned, Central Huijin has continued to purchase shares in the major commercial banks, with each purchase hovering around the 200 million yuan mark.