Guangzhou City Commercial Bank is awaiting a local government injection of about US$127 million to shore up its capital before it attracts a foreign investor, sources close to the bank said.

The Guangzhou Municipal Government, the de facto owner of Guangzhou City Commercial Bank, one of more than 100 third-tier city lenders in China, plans to inject 1 billion yuan (US$127.2 million) before the end of 2006 or early next year, two sources familiar with the situation said.

"The Guangzhou government has basically agreed with the injection plan but just hasn't decided on the date yet," said one banking source in Guangzhou.

"The injection will definitely help the bank to bargain for a good deal when it wants to attract a foreign investor," the source added.

The cash injection would be the bank's second after the Guangzhou city government injected 1 billion yuan into the bank late last year, increasing its total registered capital to 3 billion yuan, the sources said.

Neither the local government nor the bank had announced the injection at that time, the sources said.

The Guangzhou bank has already been approached by a dozen potential overseas investors, including Hong Kong's Bank of East Asia Ltd. and the World Bank's private investment arm, the International Finance Corp.

It was not clear whether any investment talks are currently in progress.

Editor: Yan