China Yangtze Power Co., operator of the world's largest hydropower project, says parent China Three Gorges Project Corp. plans to list on the stock exchange.

China Three Gorges is in talks with authorities on the plan, the Beijing-based company said in a statement on the Shanghai stock exchange today. Yangtze Power, operator of the Three Gorges Dam in the central province of Hubei, is buying generation units from its parent to boost earnings.

China is encouraging cleaner forms of generation including solar energy and hydropower as developed nations step up their calls for the country to cut emissions. China and India this month led objections to emissions-reduction targets set by the Group of Eight industrial powers, saying a clampdown on fossil fuels would suppress economic growth.

The listed unit of China Three Gorges may acquire the entire generation business from the parent, said Yu Hai, a power analyst with Shenyin Wanguo Securities Co.

``The company's decision to buy the entire assets of the parent instead of acquiring step by step will help boost its earnings by a larger margin,'' Yu said by telephone from Shanghai. ``However it's too early to say which plan is better before more details such as financing costs are given.''

Yangtze Power may buy the remaining 18 generation units at the Three Gorges Dam and also those the parent is building along the Jinsha River, Yu said. Units at Jinsha River will have a combined generation capacity of 18.6 million kilowatts, larger than the Three Gorges Dam's 18.2 million kilowatts, he said.

The Three Gorges project is scheduled to have all 26 generating units operating by year-end and is slated to produce 84.7 million megawatt-hours annually by 2009. The project has 24 units in operation and eight of them belong to Yangtze Power.

Shares of Yangtze Power have been halted from trading since May 7 pending an announcement on asset restructuring. The company is issuing weekly notices on the progress of the restructuring.