China Tietong Telecommunications Corp, one of the mainland's six telecom operators, said it would seek an overseas listing in two years.　　

"We aim for a dual listing in Hong Kong and Singapore in two years if the conditions are ripe," Chairman Zhao Jibin said. If conditions aren't good, he said, China Tietong would go for a Hong Kong listing first.

So far, the mainland's four biggest telecom giants - China Mobile, China Unicom, China Telecom and China Netcom - have traded their shares in Hong Kong. Only China Tietong and China Satellite Communications are not listed. But before going public, China Tietong, which earns money mainly by providing telecom services to railways, will first try to boost its net assets and business scale to be able to compete with larger rivals.

"Efficient and sizeable net assets are a prerequisite for us to float shares in overseas markets," Zhao said. As the unlisted firm is unable to raise money from the stock market, it will seek partnerships and issue bonds to establish a war chest to bankroll its expansion.

So far, China Tietong has worked with Hong Kong-listed CITIC Pacific to construct the GSM-R network, a new mobile communication scheme for railways. The company also plans to raise 3 billion yuan (US$375 million) through a long-term bond sale in 2007. That will add to the 2 billion yuan (US$250 million) it has raised through a one-year bond sale this year.

China Tietong earned 12.9 billion yuan (US$1.6 billion) in revenue from January to October. The figure is expected to reach 15.5 billion yuan (US$1.94 billion) for the whole year, representing a year-on-year increase of 15 per cent, Zhao said.

Its subscribers of fixed-line and broadband services in China will grow to 20 million and 2.97 million by the end of the year, up 32 per cent and 50 per cent on an annual basis.

Source:未知