SHANGHAI- PetroChina Co (601857.SS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) (0857.HK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Friday it has received approval from China's securities regulator to issue up to 30 billion yuan ($4.4 billion) in medium-term corporate bonds, with unspecified preconditions.

China has been stepping up approvals of corporate bond issuance to bolster corporate fund raising, as the stock market slumps, and to boost the decelerating economy.

The company had announced in June that it would issue up to 60 billion yuan in domestic corporate bonds.

Daqin Railway Co (601006.SS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), a major coal-transporting railway operator, also said on Friday it received approval from the security regulator to issue up to 13.5 billion yuan in bonds.

China Minsheng Banking Corp (600016.SS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Shanghai Pudong Development Bank (600000.SS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Friday they had won shareholder approval for bond issues.

Plans for the issues were announced several weeks ago, after China's banking regulator called on mid-sized listed banks to boost their capital adequacy ratio above 10 percent by the end of this year from the previous 8 percent minimum.

Minsheng said it won shareholder approval to issue up to 5 billion yuan in 15-year fixed- and floating-rate hybrid bonds to supplement its capital, while Pudong Bank won approval for the issue of up to 10 billion yuan of hybrid bonds and up to 10 billion yuan of subordinated bonds. ($1=6.834 Yuan) (Reporting by Fang Yan; Editing by Ken Wills)

(Reuters, Nov 21, 2008)