China Telecom approved to list in Shanghai

China Telecom, one of three heavyweight mobile carriers in China, has been approved to list on the Shanghai stock market, China's securities regulator said in a statement.

It's a step ahead for China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom's "reunion" in the domestic capital market, after they were asked to delist from the New York Stock Exchange.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission said on Thursday that it had approved China Telecom's plan to issue shares in Shanghai without providing a listing date. 

China Telecom plans to raise about 54.4 billion yuan (US$8.4 billion) in the Shanghai listing to finance a 5G industrial Internet project, cloud business expansion and other innovations, the company said in a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Currently, the three carriers are all listed in Hong Kong. China Unicom is already listed in Shanghai while China Mobile has applied to list on the Chinese mainland.

In May, China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom were asked by the US authorities to delist from the American market. China Telecom's domestic pivot is to neutralize the impact of that delisting.

The domestic listing will bring China Telecom a new financing channel for 5G construction and business innovations, industry insiders said. It is in the process of delisting from the New York market.

In 2021, China Telecom's 5G capital spending will hit 39.7 billion yuan, slightly higher than the 39.2 billion yuan figure in 2020, the company said previously.

The company reported a net profit of 20.9 billion yuan with 1.6 percent growth in 2020. Its revenue reached 393.6 billion yuan, a 4.7 percent year-on-year increase. By the end of 2020, its 5G user base reached 86.5 million.