By Joanne Chiu and Nerilyn Tenorio
HONG KONG, May 19 (Reuters) - Hong Kong-listed China Mobile <0941.HK> on Tuesday said it would like to make a second listing in its home market as early as possible, as Beijing tries to make more top Chinese companies available to domestic investors.
The company, China's top mobile carrier by subscribers, would prefer to make the listing using China Depositary Receipts (CDRs), Chairman Wang Jianzhou said.
"We intend to issue CDRs and this is the right time," Wang told reporters on the sidelines of the company's annual general meeting in Hong Kong.
"China Mobile has been listed in Hong Kong and New York for nearly 12 years and the management is eager to seek a listing on the mainland as soon as applicable so that domestic investors will have a chance to invest in the company," he added.
Shares of China Mobile jumped more than 4 percent at midday to HK$75.50, beating a 3 percent rise in the blue chip Hang Seng Index <.HSI>.
But the stock has eased about 2 percent this year on concerns about slowing demand and growing competition from rivals China Unicom <0762.HK> and China Telecom <0728.HK>.
Earlier this month, China agreed to allow qualified foreign companies to list on its stock exchange through issuing shares or depository receipts.
The agreement, signed last week during Chinese Vice-Premier Wang Qishan's meeting with British Finance Minister Alistair Darling in London, will pave the way for large British companies like HSBC <0005.HK> to be listed in Shanghai.
Wang said this would cover all overseas companies, including so-called red-chip companies, such as China Mobile, which are controlled by Chinese owners but incorporated outside China.
China Mobile hopes to become one of the first batch of overseas-listed China companies to issue CDRs and would apply as soon as the government provided a framework for such listings, he said.
M&A
Separately, China Mobile said it was open to acquisitions that could provide synergy and value for shareholders, weeks after announcing plans to buy 12 percent of No.3 Taiwan mobile carrier Far EasTone <4904.TW> for $529 million. [ID:nLT876587]
"We are still focused on the domestic market," Wang said. "At the same time, we are looking out for possible acquisitions. Assets were very expensive two years ago, but now they're not as expensive," he said.
China Mobile and Far EasTone both operate second-generation (2G) mobile networks based on the GSM standard popularised in Europe. But for more advanced third-generation (3G) services, China Mobile is using a homegrown technology known as TD-SCDMA.
Wang said China Mobile would soon announce winners for the third tender of TD-SCDMA bidding as it extends its network to an additional 200 cities.
The company recently awarded tenders for high-end TD-SCDMA handset to six producers including LG Electronics <066570.KS>, Motorola <MOT.N>, and Taiwan's HTC <2498.TW>, and to five suppliers including ZTE <0763.HK>, Huawei [HWT.UL] and LG to produce low-end handsets.
The company was still in talks with Apple <AAPL.O> about selling the U.S. company's popular iPhone in China, Wang said. The on-again-off-again talks have dragged on for more than a year without any results. [ID:nBKK173772]
More recently, Chinese media have reported that Apple was also in talks to offer the iPhone in China through China Unicom <0762.HK>, China's No.2 wireless carrier, which operates a GSM network and is building a 3G network based on WCDMA, the globally accepted successor to GSM.
