BEIJING, June 17 -- China's state-owned steel maker Sinosteel Corporation will hand in an initial public offering (IPO) application to China Securities Regulatory Commission soon with its environmental protection under inspection and verification.

     The Ministry of Environmental Protection recently issued a public notice assigning preliminary approval of Sinosteel's environmental protection efforts and accepting public enquiries on this matter.

     Sinosteel plans to float more than a dozen of subsidiaries on China's A-share market and raise money to fund 26 programs.

     Sinosteel started its IPO drive in yearend 2007 and established  one shareholding company  in March 2008 to act as IPO platform.

     In 2007, Sinosteel Corporation realized 111.2 billion yuan of main business revenue with 53 subsidiaries in China and 23 ones abroad.