China Minsheng Banking Corp, the nation's first privately owned bank, received regulatory approval to spend US$29.9 million to increase its stake in the biggest bank serving the Chinese community in the United States.

The State Administration of Foreign Exchange approved the purchase of 6.16 million shares in UCBH Holdings Inc at US$4.85 per share, Beijing-based China Minsheng said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Saturday. The move will raise the company's holding in UCBH to 9.9 percent from 4.9 percent.

(Shanghai Daily December 22, 2008)