From the China Economy Net: “Telecommunications industry is generally regarded as the trade with national strategic interests by many countries. China is no exception.
China has a very clear-cut plan to develop or open telecom industry under its WTO project. But multinationals still have to take a rather cautious attitude and do relevant observations before making up their mind to enter into China’s market, because they have to foresee the challenges to face in China.
As the most lucrative domain, fundamental telecom involves fixed telecom, mobile telecom and satellite telecom etc.; China has a strict control over the operation qualifications. From December 11, 2004, China will allow foreign investments to set up joint ventures in domestic and international fundamental telecom businesses, and foreign shares ratio can be 25 percent. This proportion will rise to 35 percent in 2006 and 49 percent in 2007, and by then eliminating area restrictions. ”