Several Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds are holding talks with the Agricultural Bank of China about investing in its IPO in Shanghai and Hong Kong this year, the China Business News reported on Monday.

The Kuwait Investment Authority intends to invest about $1 billion to become a cornerstone investor in the Chinese bank's $30 billion initial public offering, which would be the world's largest IPO, the newspaper reported, citing a source at one of the underwriters.   

The newspaper also said an institutional investor from the UAE was holding talks but it did not name the other sovereign wealth funds involved in the discussions. - Reuters