The company that built the "Water Cube" swimming center for the Beijing Olympics said Friday it raised $7.3 billion in the world's biggest initial public offering this year, highlighting a revival in China's financial markets.

China State Construction Engineering Corp. sold 12 billion shares Thursday at 4.18 yuan (61 U.S. cents) each, the company said in a statement released through the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Trading starts Wednesday.

Regulators clearing State Construction to go ahead with such a huge offering suggested they believe China's markets have regained their strength after a plunge last year prompted a ban on new offerings.

China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index is up more than 75 percent this year amid massive government stimulus spending and was the world's best performer for the first half of 2009.

State Construction is the world's biggest IPO since March 2008 and boosts Shanghai into first place among global exchanges in IPO deal value this year, according to financial information firm Dealogic. This year's previous recordholder was Visanet do Brasil, which raised $4.3 billion in June in Sao Paulo.

China's economic growth accelerated to 7.9 percent in the second quarter from 6.1 percent the previous quarter.

Regulators banned new IPOs in September after the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index plunged more than 65 percent from its October 2007 peak. Investors worried that new IPOs would flood the market and further depress prices.

The moratorium was lifted in June after a surge in stock prices amid massive government stimulus spending helped to restore investor confidence.

Chinese companies account for 52 percent of global IPO volume so far this year, with $11.5 billion raised from 23 deals worldwide, according to Dealogic.

State Construction is China's biggest builder of housing and is known for the "Water Cube" and other showcase projects such as the futuristic state TV headquarters and China's tallest skyscraper, the 1,614-foot-tall (492-meter-tall) Shanghai World Financial Center.

Its IPO is the world's biggest since Visa's $19.7 billion listing in March 2008, according to Dealogic. It is China's biggest since PetroChina Ltd. in October 2007 and the country's fourth largest to date.

State Construction said last year it received approval for an IPO before the moratorium.

The first company to sell shares since the end of the moratorium received an enthusiastic response from investors. Guilin Sanjin Pharmaceutical Co., a small drug manufacturer, said its retail offering was 584 times subscribed.

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Associated Press researcher Bonnie Cao in Beijing contributed to this report.

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On the Net:

China State Construction Engineering Corp.: http://www.cscec.com.cn/english/index.htm

Shanghai Stock Exchange: http://www.sse.com.cn