(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-09-08 11:40

China Mobile, the country's largest mobile phone provider, is now actively preparing for listing on the mainland stock market, Friday's Shanghai Securities News reports.

However, there is still no timetable for its listing on the yuan-denominated A-share market, said Wang Jianzhou, board chairman of China Mobile.

In June, China's securities regulator was reported to have drawn up rules on how Chinese firms registered and listed in Hong Kong, better known as red chips, can sell shares on the nation's booming domestic stock markets.

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Some media reports have suggested the scheme has been suspended but Wang Jianzhou said the company had not received any official notification to ask it to halt the A-share listing plan.

He didn't reveal how many shares China Mobile is set to issue or the possible share price.

Earlier reports said China Mobile had chosen Goldman Sachs Gaohua as the underwriter for the listing, from which the company plans to raise no more than 80 billion yuan (US$10.5 billion).

Insiders say that domestic institutional and individual investors will have more investment opportunities if China Mobile chooses the form of initial public offering (IPO) for the A-share listing instead of the CDR form.

Earlier reports predicted that the IPO price for China Mobile will be no lower than its share price on the Hong Kong market, which was HK$75.8 on June 15. Counting with the estimation of China Mobile's price to earnings ratio on the A-share market, the price will exceed 100 yuan.

China Mobile's turnover in the first half of this year reached 166.6 billion yuan, a year-on-year rise of 21.6 percent.

The new rules approving Hong Kong-listed Chinese firms to sell shares domestically could pave the way for the return of up to 21 companies, including China Construction Bank (CCB) and petroleum giant China National Offshore Oil Corporation.

China Securities Regulatory Commission announced earlier that it would discuss on Friday CCB's application of offering no more than nine billion shares on China's A-share market but, as yet, has not released the results.