China\\\'s ICBC says hopes to issue 35 billion yuan

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) could issue up to 35 billion yuan ($5.7 billion) of overseas preference shares within the year, the bank's Chairman Jiang Jianqing said at a media conference in Beijing on Thursday. The bank had previously mentioned plans to issue up to 80 billion yuan of preference shares, split between onshore and offshore tranches. ICBC, the country's largest bank, earlier reported its lowest second-quarter profit growth in five years and an increase in bad loans, affected by a slowing economy. Chinese lenders are poised to raise a record $120 billion in funds over the next two years to shore up their balance sheets in the face of rising bad debts and to comply with stricter global capital requirements known as the Basel III rules, according to Reuters.