The Shanghai Pudong Development Bank on November 10 listed 320 million A-shares on the Shanghai Exchange.

With a per share issue price of 10 yuan and at an estimated price-earnings (PE) ratio of 22.7, these shares are the first part of the 400 A-shares issued by the bank on September 23.

This is the first time a joint-stock commercial bank has issued stock since China implemented the Law of Commercial Banks and the Securities Law.

It also means another vital breakthrough in China's banking sector's move toward a modern financial system.

The Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, founded in January 1993 with a registered capital of 2.01 billion yuan, currently has branches in more than 10 major cities, including Beijing, Guangzhou, Hangzhou and Chongqing.

By the end of this June, the bank had reported total capital of 87.2 billion yuan. In 1998, the bank's business volume and profits reached 4.79 billion yuan and 1.16 billion yuan, respectively.