知情人士表示，中国农业银行(Agricultural Bank of China)大规模两地上市在香港站已获得机构投资者500亿美元认购。

　　The high level of institutional demand means that Agricultural Bank remains on track to raise as much as $23bn in what could be the world’s biggest initial public offering.

　　机构投资者认购需求巨大，意味着农行在首次公开发行(IPO)中仍然有望融资230亿美元之多，成为全球最大规模的IPO。

　　Investors have been placing their orders at prices across the HK$2.88-HK$3.48 ($0.37-$0.45) range in which Agricultural Bank plans to sell 25.4bn shares in Hong Kong.

　　投资者以每股2.88-3.48港元（合0.37-0.45美元）的价格下单。农行计划在香港发售254亿股。

　　“The orders are mixed,” said a person close to the deal. “Some are at the bottom, some at the top.”

　　一位接近农行IPO的人士表示：“认购价参差不一，有的位于区间下限，有的是上限。”

　　If the shares sell at the top of the price range and underwriters on the deal trigger options to increase the offering’s size by 15 per cent, Agricultural Bank could raise as much as $13bn in Hong Kong and another $10bn in Shanghai.

　　假如农行最终以上限价格招股，并且承销商启动超额认股权，把发行规模扩大15%，农行在香港将可融资130亿美元，在上海可融资100亿美元。

　　At $23bn, the listing would exceed the record $21.9bn that Industrial and Commercial Bank of China raised in 2006.

　　这样一来，两地融资之和将达到230亿美元，打破中国工商银行(ICBC)在2006年创下的219亿美元融资纪录。

　　But the euphoria that surrounded previous IPOs of Chinese state-owned banks is absent this time.

　　然而，以往投资者对中国国有银行IPO的狂热，这次却不见了。

　　Four years ago, overseas institutional investors ordered about $350bn of ICBC shares and retail investors queued in their hundreds to get involved in the deal.

　　4年前工行招股时，海外机构投资者的申购金额高达3500亿美元左右，散户为了参与认购则排起了数百人的长队。

　　Agricultural Bank had originally hoped to raise as much as $30bn in the IPO but has been forced to scale down its expectations in recent weeks as stock markets have weakened.

　　农行最初希望通过IPO融资300亿美元，但近几周随着股市走弱，不得不降低预期。

　　The Shanghai stock market has fallen 25 per cent since mid-April because of worries about the economy and concern that a deluge of bank fund-raisings will swamp the market.

　　自4月中旬以来，上海股市下跌了25%，原因是投资者担心经济形势，也唯恐一大批银行融资计划将会给市场造成冲击。

　　Market volatility has not eased up since Agricultural Bank set its IPO price ranges for Shanghai on Monday and for Hong Kong a week ago on Wednesday.

　　自从农行周一确定上海IPO价格区间、上周三确定香港IPO价格区间以来，市场波动并未趋缓。

　　In moves that bode ill for the final price of the offering, the Shanghai market has dropped 6 per cent since the announcement.

　　从农行宣布价格区间至今，上海股市下跌了6%，这对农行IPO的最终定价不是好兆头。

　　Hong Kong has fallen 3 per cent. Shares worth $5.45bn, or nearly half of the Hong Kong offering, have already been allocated to 11 main investors, most notably the sovereign wealth funds of Qatar and Kuwait.

　　香港股市则下跌了3%。农行将向11家基石投资者配售54.5亿美元股票，占香港招股总额的近一半，当中最显眼的是卡塔尔和科威特的主权财富基金。