China International Travel Service Corp (CITS) said yesterday it would launch a Shanghai stock initial public offering (IPO) this week that is worth about 1.7 billion yuan to fund expansion, including setting up new tourist agencies.

CITS, the country's top tourist agency, would start book-building today to issue as many as 220 million A shares denominated in yuan, or up to 25 percent of its expanded capital after the IPO, it said in a prospectus published in the Shanghai Securities News.

China's stock regulator has pushed a slew of firms to launch IPOs since it resumed approvals in June after a 10-month ban.