Huarong speeds up Shanghai listing

China Huarong Asset Management Co Ltd, the country's biggest distressed debt manager, is accelerating the process of listing on the A-share market, hoping to use the proceeds from the share offering to expand its core business, its chairman said on Thursday.

The company is waiting for regulatory approval for its initial public offering in Shanghai to raise about 19 billion yuan ($2.8 billion). It already floated shares in Hong Kong in a $2.3 billion IPO in 2015.

"We will use the funds raised from the A-share listing to expand our core business in distressed asset management, to better serve the real economy and to support projects under the Belt and Road Initiative," Lai Xiaomin, chairman of China Huarong, told a news conference.