Chinese coal firm raises $8.9bn

China is the world's largest consumer of coal

China's biggest coal miner, Shenhua Energy, has raised a record 66.6bn yuan ($8.9bn; £4.5bn) through a listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

The company, already listed in Hong Kong, saw its shares priced at the top of their range for its mainland China flotation - due to begin on 9 October.

The listing breaks the record $7.6bn raised by China Construction Bank.

Flotations in mainland China have raised about $40.5bn in 2007 so far, compared with $21.1bn in all of 2006.

The 1.8 billion shares in Shenhua shares were priced at 36.99 yuan each.

China has been encouraging its largest companies to list in Shanghai or Shenzhen, as well as Hong Kong, in order to give domestic investors access to the shares.

China is the world's biggest consumer of coal and became a net importer earlier this year.

Most of Shenhua's mining operations are in Inner Mongolia. The firm also owns railways, ports and power plants.