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China Construction Bank (CCB) is set for a listing hearing Thursday with the Hong Kong stock exchange for what may be the country’s largest-ever IPO, worth more than US$5 billion, people familiar with the situation said.

CCB, the country’s No. 3 lender, could start preliminary marketing as early as next week if the exchange’s listing committee approves the offering, the first by one of China’s four largest State banks.

“CCB has yet to fix the size of the offering, but yes, the IPO could outshine China Unicom to set a new record,” one source said.

Depending on demand, the deal could top US$6 billion, although CCB has not yet set a preliminary price range or valuation level.

China Unicom Ltd., the country’s No. 2 mobile telecom carrier, raised US$5.59 billion in 2000, according to the Hong Kong bourse.

CCB’s listing could surpass the July IPO by Gaz de France to be the world’s largest of 2005. The French utility’s partial privatization raised 4.5 billion euros (US$5.47 billion).

CCB wants to launch the offering as soon as possible to avoid battling for investor interest against the Hong Kong government’s planned US$3 billion float of the Link Real Estate Investment Trust, which is poised to be the world’s largest property trust listing.

The government aims to launch the Link REIT in November.

“CCB’s listing will be the focus of the market,” said Yang Liu, a China-focused fund manager at Atlantis Investment Management in Hong Kong.

CCB’s offering is already nearly halfway to its fund-raising target. Strategic investors Bank of America Corp., Singapore’s Temasek Holdings and Credit Suisse First Boston have already pledged a total of US$2 billion to the IPO.

China’s top property lender plans to offer 12 percent of its enlarged share capital, sources said.