A leap in the shares of Industrial & Commercial Bank of China yesterday made it the world’s biggest bank by market capitalisation, overtaking US giant Citigroup. And ICBC’s president Yang Kaisheng said that the bank intends to set up its own private banking unit rather than seeking a joint venture with a foreign bank. Its rival Bank of China has launched a private banking joint venture with Royal Bank of Scotland. The joint venture's targets are Chinese individuals with over $1 million in investable assets. ICBC’s Shanghai-listed A shares surged 2.68 per cent to 5.75 yuan ($0.76), giving it a market capitalisation of $254 billion, exceeding the $251 billion capitalisation of Citigroup, previously the world’s biggest bank, when its shares closed at $50.73 in New York on Friday. HSBC was in third place with $215 billion. Shares in ICBC, which listed in Shanghai and Hong Kong last October, have gained 15 per cent this month on the back of a rally in China’s stock market as well as strong growth in the bank’s own earnings. Current weakness in Citi’s share price, and appreciation of the yuan against the dollar have also shifted market values in favour of ICBC. It may also be a sign of dangerous overheating in Shanghai. ICBC’s share price yesterday valued it at 28 times analysts’ forecasts for its earnings per share in 2007, far above an average of 16 times for major global banks. Mr Yang said the bank would continue to seek acquisition opportunities overseas and is also interested in purchasing domestic trust companies.