China Mobile to Expand Overseas MarketChina Mobile, the world's second largest mobile phone company, is to expand its business abroad and has already signed agreements with a number of foreign companies."We have signed agreements with foreign companies. These are all concrete but in different areas. Some are strategic, some are in the fields of technology, some aimed at gaining from their experience, some are joint investment projects." said Lu Xiangdong, vice general manager of China Telecom. China Mobile, one of the four China's telecommunications heavyweights, has hired consultants to examine overseas investments and opportunities to broaden its operations beyond mobile to include the internet and fixed-line markets. "We have invited some consultants and some researchers to draw up a plan for co-operation with foreign companies and going abroad," said Lu. "China Mobile's business scope is going to broaden. At the moment we just do mobile, but will be able to go into other business areas too such as fixed-line, IP telephony, the internet, international calls and other areas that is profitable." China's largest mobile group, got listed in New York and Hong Kong in 1997, boasts more than 50 million subscribers. And it expects to overtake Britain based Vodafone's worldwide total of 57m by the end of the year. The group's Hong Kong-listed vehicle is the largest Asian public company outside Japan, with a stock market value of $109bn. |
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