Shares in Bank of China, one of the nation's "big four" lenders, made a strong debut in Shanghai Wednesday morning as the new number-one on China's stock markets.

BOC's initial public offering was valued at a hefty 20 billion yuan (2.5 billion U.S. dollars), and its equities, totaling 253.8 billion shares, dwarfed the former front-runner Sinopec Corp., which has 86.7 billion shares.

Investors were snapping up shares of Bank of China, the first state bank listed in China's mainland, as there is strong pent-up demand for new shares, analysts say.

The bank's opening price was set at 3.99 yuan, 29.5 percent higher than its IPO price of 3.08 yuan. Shortly after trading began, the stock's price fell slightly to 3.89 yuan.

China only recently resumed IPOs on its domestic bourses after a yearlong moratorium for shareholding reforms meant to float formerly non-tradable shares held by the state.

A series of policy support in recent months fueled a surge in China's stock market, which remained bullish for years, and Bank of China is expected to give another shot in the arm to the market.

Shanghai's benchmark Composite Index would balloon by 75 points if BOC shares rise to four yuan apiece.

The index has gained 9 percent in the past three weeks in anticipation of the heavyweight's debut. It closed at 1,681.55 Tuesday, down 0.93 percent as investors sold to lock in profits, especially in bank shares.

China Galaxy, CITIC and Guotai Junan securities companies were underwriters of the BOC listing deal.

Editor: Yan