China Mobile lies in wait for economic slump

Wang Jianzhou, who ranks among China's most prominent members of the international business community, said he hoped falling share prices would represent an opportunity to buy smaller counterparts in other Asian markets.
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"I hope the falling valuations of companies will allow us to do more deals," said Mr Wang, who was among a clutch of Chinese executives attending last week's World Economic Forum in Davos. "We are very much focused on the emerging markets."To date, China Mobile has made just one overseas acquisition, the $284m (£143m) purchase of a controlling stake in Paktel, the Pakistani telecoms company, last year.

Since then, Mr Wang had complained that soaring valuations of assets were acting as a deterrent to potential deals.China Mobile, which has more than 350m customers, had also considered a $5.3bn bid for Millicom, the group which controlled Paktel, but walked away from a deal at the eleventh hour.

Although expansion into Europe is off the agenda for the time being, analysts believe China Mobile is likely to examine opportunities to move into emerging economies in eastern Europe over the long term.Mr Wang also said China Mobile had no plans to take a reciprocal stake in Vodafone, which owns a small shareholding in the Chinese ­company.

Vodafone's chief executive, Arun Sarin, is keen to expand its presence in China, which is among the world's fastest-growing mobile phone ­markets.The Chinese government is understood to be considering a restructuring of the country's telecoms industry but is unlikely to allow foreign companies to control major players in the sector.

• China Goldmines, the Aim-listed mining group, will tomorrow announce that it has commenced gold production at its Shenjiya Prospect in the country's southern Hunan province.

Source : http://www.telegraph.co.uk