China Unicom gets 78b yuan investment boost

Private capital takes role in State giant as it embarks on mixed-ownership reform scheme

China United Network Communications Group Co Ltd, the country's second-largest mobile carrier by subscribers, has agreed to raise a total of 78 billion yuan ($11.7 billion) from strategic investors, as part of the Chinese government's push to rejuvenate State-owned enterprises with private capital.

The strategic investors include Chinese tech heavyweights Tencent Holdings, Baidu Inc, JD.com Inc, Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd, Didi Chuxing, Suning Commerce Group, as well as Chinese car rail manufacturer CRRC Corp and financial insurance enterprise China Life Insurance Co Ltd. Other tech companies such as Yongyou Software Co and Wangsu Science & Technology, and domestic industrial funds also participated in the investment.