Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited (1398.HK, 601398.SH) officially joined the Hang Seng Index (HSI) constituent stock on March 12, the 38th added to the latter list.

According to the HSI third quarter review by HSI Services Limited on Feb 11, 2007, ICBC H-Share will be officially included in HSI constituent stock as from March 12 of this year, making a total of five H-Share companies in HSI constituent stock. Meanwhile, ICBC also joins the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index (HSCEI) as one of the five weighing stocks in the Index. ICBC is China's largest commercial Bank and listed concurrently both in Shanghai Stock Exchange (A-Share) and HK Stock Exchange (H-Share) on October 27, 2006 for the first time ever.

HSI Services Ltd. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hang Seng Bank, responsible for compiling and managing Hang Seng Index, Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, Hang Seng Composite Indexes, Hang Seng Freefloat Index and Hang Seng Cumulative Dividend Index, where Hang Seng Index, officially launched in November 24, 1969, is an important index to reflect HK stock market movement and widely applicable in all kinds of derivative products. Over the past 30 years, Hang Seng Index only chose Hong Kong stock with largest capitalization as constituent stock. Most of the listed companies included in HSI constituent stocks are bull-run blue chips and welcomed by the whole market.

ICBC spokesperson indicated that ICBC has achieved remarkable results since its restructuring and going public. ICBC has quicken its steps in standing in the forefront of good cooperate governance, systems, mechanisms, technology and services. More talents are recruited to turn ICBC into a modern company. ICBC operation force is distinctively on the rise to sharpen its core competitive edge. ICBC selected in Hang Seng Index this time is the recognition from market on ICBC results, both in restructuring and performance. It demonstrated the full confidence in ICBC potential and future growth.

The ICBC spokesman also stressed that ICBC, being a listed company, will take this opportunity to continue to elevate corporate governance and services as the final fulfillment to grow company value and maximize shareholders benefits. Risk management and internal control will be further developed and streamlined to increase competitiveness. ICBC promises to deliver top-of-the-class results to all investors by gathering speed in improving asset quality and profitability.