China Construction plans big Shanghai listing

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SHANGHAI, May 31 (Reuters) - China Construction Corp, a big home builder controlled by the central government, has applied to list on the Shanghai stock market in what could be the country's largest initial public offer so far this year.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission said in a statement that it would consider on Thursday an application by the company to issue up to 12 billion A shares, or 40 percent of its expanded capital.

The offer could raise over 42 billion yuan ($6.1 billion), the official Securities Times reported on Saturday. That would make it China's largest domestic IPO this year, and the fifth biggest ever.

China Construction, founded last December with investment from several major state enterprises, obtained special permission from the State Council, or cabinet, to list without fulfilling the standard requirement of first completing three years of operations, the newspaper said. ($1 = 6.94 yuan) (Reporting by Andrew Torchia; Editing by Louise Heavens)