West China Cement is set to become the next Chinese company on Aim as it plans to raise up to 20m british Pounds to finance expansion.

It will be the first mainland Chinese company to be brought to the junior market by Insinger de Beaufort, the Anglo-Dutch bank that is nominated adviser and broker.

The non-executive chairman is Robert Robertson, 54, who is due to retire as chief executive of Tarmac, the building materials group that is part of Anglo American. Mr Robertson has spent some time in Shaanxi province inspecting the company's operations.

"It's a very exciting opportunity," he said yesterday. "China's growth story is compelling - but it is more compelling in cement than a lot of other industries."

The company is based in Jersey and owns a Virgin Islands company that in turn owns the Chinese assets. It is expected to have a market capitalisation of about ?66m. Last year, it reported profit of Yn44.4m (3m pounds) after tax on sales of Yn238.2m and, in the first half, profit after tax of Yn 27.6m on sales of Yn138m.

Founded in 1977, the company is producing about 1.5m tonnes of cement a year. However, it has two more production lines under construction, each of which will produce another 1m tonnes a year. The first is expected to open early next year and the second at the end of next year.

Charles Brock, of Insinger, said the Chinese cement industry was highly fragmented and operating a lot of outdated and environmentally unsustainable plant.

The government was encouraging both consolidation of the industry and foreign investment.

Insinger had started working with the company in April, performing extensive due diligence, including a check on the limestone reserves. It was seeking to raise the money - mainly to finance the new production lines - from UK, Hong Kong and Singapore institutions.

The shares should start trading early next month.

never liked this company and shall contemplate whether there it merits shorting even at this depressed level ..... probably, is my gut feel