China Huarong Asset sells Bank of Wenzhou shares

China Huarong Asset Management Corporation sold 107 million shares of the Bank of Wenzhou for 440 million yuan ($69 million), 58 million yuan higher than the listing price, the Tianjin Financial Assets Exchange said.

In April 2010, the China Banking Regulatory Commission said that shareholders of small- and medium-sized commercial banks could only keep the shares of only one commercial bank.

China Huarong Asset - which also owns over 50 percent of the shares of Huarong Xiangjiang Bank - decided to sell the Bank of Wenzhou shares to comply with the regulations.

The shares sold by China Huarong Asset represent about 7 percent of the total equity of the Bank of Wenzhou.

"The price is higher than the listing price as expectations for Wenzhou to recover from the crisis under the ongoing economic pilot project are turning to be more optimistic," said Ye Xinming, deputy director of the financial office in Wenzhou.