China Mobile, which lists shares in Hong Kong, awaits approval on an application submitted about five years ago for a domestic listing of CDRs, Rainie Lei, a Hong Kong-based spokeswoman for the company, said by telephone yesterday. Regulators have yet to introduce CDRs in China.

"Listing CDRs is the preferred way for China Mobile to tap domestic capital markets, but we aren't ruling out an A-share listing," Lei said.

Chinese phone operators such as China Mobile aim to raise cash to fund networks for so-called third-generation, or 3G, services, ahead of the government's issuance of licenses, Bloomberg News said.

Initial investment on equipment for 3G, which lets users watch videos and download music to their handsets, is estimated at 10 billion yuan (US$1.3 billion) to 20 billion yuan, technology research firm Analysys International said in a report in July.

China Mobile applied to sell yuan-denominated Class-A shares in the country and "is in the queue" for approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the Shanghai Securities News reported on Saturday, citing an unidentified vice president at China Mobile Communications Corp, China Mobile Ltd's parent.

Zhou Xiaochuan, former chairman of the commission, said in July 2002 the regulator is working on a plan to allow Hong Kong-listed Chinese companies to sell CDRs in the country.

CDRs are similar to American depositary receipts, which are certificates issued by a US bank representing a number of foreign securities held and traded in the United States as domestic shares.

China in May ended a yearlong ban on initial public offerings, aiming to attract Chinese firms traded overseas to sell stock domestically. Many of China's biggest and most profitable companies, including PetroChina Co and Bank of Communications, are traded in Hong Kong.

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