China Mobile neon sign shines on Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong, file photo.[Photo: Baidu]

The Hong Kong-listed China Mobile has no timetable to issue yuan-backed A shares in Shanghai, Wang Jianzhou, president of the company, said yesterday after the domestic media reported the company had decided to issue A-shares this year, a Shanghai-based newspaper reported today.

China Mobile Communications Corp is making preparations, but the process is complicated and needs more time, Shanghai Securities News said, citing Wang.

The country's securities regulator is on track to allow red chips, or overseas-incorporated Chinese mainland firms listed in Hong Kong, to issue yuan-backed A shares in Shanghai within the year.

Media reports last month said that China Mobile, the company with a market value of 1.3 trillion yuan (US$181.82 billion), may become the first red-chip company to sell stocks on the mainland as early as the first half of the year as the market watchdog launches the pilot program.

As to the restructuring of the domestic telecom industry, Wang said the company has yet to receive any instructions from the government, the report said.

The restructuring of the telecom industry is a world trend. It can help the company to better serve its customers, Wang added.

Media reports said that China Unicom may sell its CDMA division, which accounts for about a quarter of the Beijing-based company's subscribers, to China Telecom as part of a reorganization of the nation's phone industry.

Sophia Tso, Unicom's Hong Kong-based spokeswoman, declined to comment on the industry reorganization proposal on February 23.