(Yicai Global) May 17 -- Bank of Nanjing’s shares jumped on the news that French banking group BNP Paribas plans to further increase its stake in the Chinese lender after securing approval from regulators.

Bank of Nanjing [SHA: 601009] closed up 5.4 percent at CNY11.68 (USD1.73) today, after earlier gaining as much as 6.5 percent.

BNP Paribas’ stake in the bank could reach “infinitely close to 20 percent,” a source close to the joint-stock commercial bank told Yicai Global earlier. As of this year’s first quarter, Paris-based banking giant owned 14.97 percent.

BNP Paribas declined to comment on the matter.

According to a statement issued by Bank of Nanjing yesterday, the  Jiangsu branch of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission has approved an application for a change in the bank’s equity. BNP Paribas, as a shareholder owning more than 10 percent, would need approval to raise its stake further.

China’s “policy of encouraging opening-up is unchanged,” the source said. “The specific investment-related decision and timing will also depend on market conditions, which are decided by the foreign institution itself.”

Unlike other foreign banks that have successively pared their holdings or even liquidated their stakes in Chinese banks in previous years, BNP Paribas, which took a stake in Bank of Nanjing in 2005, has frequently collaborated with China in terms of business, personnel and technologies.

Amid China’s continued financial opening-up, the French banking group also has further plans for the Chinese market. It applied in April to set up a securities brokerage, and, according to an insider, intends to seek sole ownership of a securities firm in the Chinese mainland.

In the first quarter of this year, Bank of Nanjing’s net profit jumped 22 percent to about CNY5 billion (USD742.2 million) from a year earlier on a 20 percent gain in revenue to CNY12.28 billion (USD1.82 billion).

Editors: Zhang Yushuo, Peter Thomas