Description
China Telecom Corp., Ltd. is a Chinese telecommunications company. It is one of the listed companies of state-owned China Telecommunications Corporation. Its H shares have been traded on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong since 15 November 2002. It is a constituent of the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, the index for the H shares of state-controlled listed companies.
China Telecom was a brand of China Telecommunications Corporation, but after the market liberailization of China, the state-owned enterprise spun off the brand and operated it as a separate company, floating it on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
As of 2017, there were 153 million customers using China Telecommunications Corporation's internet service, of which 134 million of them belong to China Telecom Corp., Ltd.
History
China Telecom Corp., Ltd. was incorporated on 10 September 2002 as a limited company in order to float some of the assets of the group on the stock exchange, specifically the wireline telecommunications businesses in Shanghai, Guangdong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, as well as other assets from the parent company.
In 2003, China Telecom acquired businesses in Anhui, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Chongqing, Sichuan, as well as other assets for CN¥46 billion. In 2004, it acquired businesses in Hubei, Hunan, Hainan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia and Xinjiang and other assets for CN¥27.8 billion. In 2007, it acquired three companies: China Telecom System Integration, China Telecom Global and China Telecom (Americas) for CN¥1.408 billion. In 2008 the business in Beijing (China Telecom Group Beijing) was acquired for CN¥5.557 billion. In 2011, e-commerce business and video media business were acquired by China Telecom's subsidiaries E-surfing Pay and E-surfing Media. However, E-surfing Media was sold back to the parent company in 2013. In 2012, a digital trunking business was acquired from sister company Besttone Holding (a company listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange) for CN¥48 million. In 2013, China Telecom (Europe) was acquired from the parent company for CN¥278 million.
In 2015, China Telecom formed a joint venture China Tower with fellow state-owned telecommunication companies China Mobile and China Unicom. China Tower, which was the largest telecommunications tower group by revenue, became a separate listed company in 2018. China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom were remained the largest clients of China Tower as of 2018.
In August 2015, Chang Xiaobing, former chairman of China Unicom, became the chairman of China Telecom as well chairman of China Telecommunications Corporation. While Wang Xiaochu, who previously served in these two positions, was appointed to the same positions in China Unicom. However, Chang was investigated for corruption in December 2015 and resigned. He was sentenced to six years imprisonment in 2017.
