China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec Corp.) held its first extraordinary general meeting (EGM) for the year 2005 on Monday and passed resolutions to issue short-term commercial paper, Sinopec, China's largest oil refiner, announced Tuesday.

According to the resolutions, an approval will be given to Sinopec Corp. to issue in one or multiple tranches a short-term commercial paper of an aggregate principal amount up to 10 percent of the net asset value as shown in Sinopec Corp.'s latest audited consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with PRC Accounting Rules and Regulations.

The volume should be up to the maximum amount for issue of short-term commercial paper as approved by People's Bank of China (PBC) after shareholders' approval, pursuant to the Administrative Measures on Short-term Commercial Papers promulgated by the PBC and any other applicable regulations, said Sinopec.

According to the resolutions, an unconditional general mandate will be given to the board or any two or more directors to determine the terms and conditions and any relevant matters in relation to the issue of short-term commercial paper in view of the Sinopec Corp. and the market conditions, including but not limited to the final principal amount, interest rate, and term of maturity of the short-term commercial paper.

Votes in favor of and against the resolutions represent 99.9391 percent and 0.0609 percent respectively of the total number of shares carrying voting rights of Sinopec Corp. held by shareholders present at the EGM.

The EGM was convened by the board of directors of Sinopec Corp. and chaired by Wang Jiming, Vice Chairman of the Board.

(Xinhua News Agency September 21, 2005)