Hong Kong-listed China Mobile Ltd yesterday revealed that it hoped to take the unprecedented step of allowing mainland investors to share in its success.

 

But there is no specific timetable for the issuance of China Depository Receipts (CDRs), as mainland regulators are still studying how to allow overseas companies to trade shares domestically.

 

"It (allowing the issuance of CDRs) will be good for mainland investors, as they will be able to benefit from China Mobile's growth," Wang Jianzhou, China Mobile's chairman, told reporters yesterday in Hong Kong.

 

Wang's comments came after recent media reports that China Mobile, the world's largest cellular operator in terms of subscribers, would be the first company to get the green light to sell CDRs on the mainland

 

China Mobile Ltd, a subsidiary of China Mobile Group, is registered in Hong Kong and is therefore regarded as an overseas company. As a result, it cannot directly list on the A-share market and has to use CDRs.

 

Wang's comments came after the firm posted a 25.5 percent jump in its net profit for the first half of the year, thanks to value-added services and the expansion of the firm's subscriber base.

 

China Mobile's net profit reached 30.2 billion yuan (US$3.8 billion), compared to last year's 24.04 billion yuan (US$3 billion).

 

Its results were better than expected. A median of eight analysts surveyed last month by China Daily had put its growth at 21 percent.

 

A jump in value-added services drove the bottom line. Revenue from the business surged 37 percent to reach 31 billion yuan (US$3.875 billion), accounting for 22.6 percent of total turnover.

 

To maintain that growth rate, China Mobile said it would shift its attention from the saturated coastal markets to those in Central China and rural areas.

 

"The popularity of mobile use in Central China is 10 percentage points lower than coastal areas and major cities," Wang said.

 

China Mobile has invested more than 9 billion yuan (US$112 million) to ensure its network covers 97 percent of the mainland's rural areas, he added.

 

As for the development of its third-generation (3G) network, Wang said the company has established a dedicated team to deal with this. He expressed his confidence that the firm could provide mature 3G services before the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

 

(China Daily August 18, 2006)