BANK OF CHINA LIMITED
(a joint stock company incorporated in the People’s Republic of China with limited liability)
(Stock Code: 3988)
ANNOUNCEMENT
Election of Language and Means of Receipt of Corporate Communication
Pursuant to the requirements of the Listing Rules, the Company is making adequate arrangementsto ascertain the wishes of its Shareholders as to which language version and through what meansthey wish to receive the Company’s Corporate Communication in the future. These arrangementsare described below.INTRODUCTION
Pursuant to the applicable legislation/regulation and the Company’s Articles of Association, the Companyis permitted to send Corporate Communication to its Shareholders either: (i) in printed form, either in theEnglish language only, the Chinese language only, or both the English and Chinese languages; or (ii) byelectronic means through the Company’s website, provided that the Company has made adequatearrangements to ascertain the wish of its Shareholders.PROPOSED ARRANGEMENTS
The following arrangements have been or will be made by the Company in compliance with therequirements under Rules 2.07A and 2.07B of the Listing Rules:1.
The Company will send a letter on or about 10 July 2006 together with an instruction slip andpostage pre-paid envelope (together, the “First Letter”), prepared in English and Chinese, to itsShareholders to enable them to select to receive future Corporate Communication of the Company:(i) in printed form, in either English or Chinese or both English and Chinese; or (ii) by electronicmeans through the Company’s website. The First Letter will explain that if no reply is receivedfrom such Shareholders by 11 August 2006, the following arrangements will apply, where applicable:•
the Corporate Communication (including a Financial Summary (if available) in place of theFull Financial Report) will be sent in Chinese only to all Hong Kong Shareholders who arenatural persons with a Chinese name; and
the Corporate Communication (including a Financial Summary (if available) in place of theFull Financial Report) will be sent in English only to all overseas Shareholders and all HongKong Shareholders other than natural persons with a Chinese name.
•
Whether a Shareholder of the Company is a Hong Kong or an overseas Shareholder will be determinedby his or her or its address as appearing in the Company’s register of members of H shares.Shareholders have the right at any time by reasonable notice in writing to the Company to changethe choice of language of the Corporate Communication.
1
2.
The Company will send the selected language version(s) of the Corporate Communication to thoseShareholders who have made a selection unless and until they notify the Company in writing thatthey wish to receive the Corporate Communication in the other (or both) language(s).
When each Corporate Communication is sent out according to the arrangements as set out inparagraphs 1 and 2 above, a letter together with a pre-paid request slip (together, the “SecondLetter”), prepared in English and Chinese, will be attached to or printed at some prominent place inthe versions of the Corporate Communication sent out stating that the Corporate Communicationprepared in the other language will be available upon request. The Company will also set out insuch Corporate Communication the steps for notifying the Company of any change of Shareholders’choice of language of Corporate Communication.
With respect to Shareholders who choose to receive Corporate Communication by electronic means,the Company will notify such Shareholders as and when the Corporate Communication is publishedon the Company’s website.
The Corporate Communication in both English and Chinese versions and in accessible format willbe available on the Company’s website at www.boc.cn and the website of Hong Kong Stock Exchangeat www.hkex.com.hk.
The Company is providing a dial-up hotline service (Tel: (852) 2862 8633) to enable Shareholdersto make enquiry of the Company’s proposed arrangements.
The First Letter and the Second Letter will mention that both languages of the CorporateCommunication will be available on the Company’s website and that the dial-up hotline has beenprovided as mentioned in paragraphs 5 and 6 above respectively.
3.
4.
5.
6.7.
DEFINITIONS
In this announcement, the following expressions have the meanings set out below unless the contextrequires otherwise:“Company”
Bank of China Limited, a joint stock company incorporated in thePeople’s Republic of China, whose H shares are listed on the MainBoard of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange;
any document issued or to be issued by the Company for the informationor action of its Shareholders as defined in Rule 1.01 of the ListingRules;
the Rules Governing the Listing of Securities on the Hong Kong StockExchange;
the holder(s) of the H share(s) of the Company;
a summary financial report (if available) of the Company which complieswith the requirements of Companies Ordinance in Hong Kong; and
“Corporate Communication”
“Listing Rules”“Shareholder(s)”“Financial Summary”
2
“Hong Kong Stock Exchange”The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited.
By Order of the BoardJason C.W. YeungCompany Secretary
Beijing, PRC, 7 July 2006
As at the date of this announcement, the Directors of the Company are: XIAO Gang, LI Lihui, ZHANGJinghua*, YU Erniu*, ZHU Yan*, ZHANG Xinze*, HONG Zhihua*, HUANG Haibo*, Sir Frederick AndersonGOODWIN*, SEAH Lim Huat Peter*, HUA Qingshan, LI Zaohang, Anthony Francis NEOH#, WilliamPeter COOKE#, Patrick de SAINT-AIGNAN# and Alberto TOGNI#.
*
#
Non-executive directors
Independent non-executive directors
“Please also refer to the published version of this announcement in the South China Morning Post”
3
