The IPO offering by Agricultural Bank of China [ABC. UL], which is the world’s second biggest IPO, has tapered the price range for its Hong Kong initial public offering to HK$3.18-3.38 per share, as per some sources. Still, it is a third biggest lender.

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) told on Monday that Chinese companies may raise 500 billion Yuan ($73.86 billion) via IPOs this year, after a record of first half when companies chase to tap the stock market for funds. In the first-half, 176 IPOs raised as much to 212.7 billion Yuan. It is expected that this number will go up to 300 this year, including 25 listings in Shanghai and 275 on the Shenzhen exchange.

It shows China’s enhancing growth, which would be continued in the second half of this year, unless some downbeat factors come out.

AgBank is scheduled to price its IPO, later this week.

As revealed by two sources, the book for Hong Kong-based institutional investors would be closed at 5 p. m. (5 a. m. ET) on Monday, ahead of schedule, prompting the bank to narrow the price range from HK$2.88-3.48, to give investors a better idea of the final pricing.