Jiang Shaobing, who oversees comprehensive planning under the Ministry of Information Industry, said Monday at the ongoing Fourth China Fair for International Investment and Trade that this is part of the country's efforts to accelerate the domestic economic reform and to bring fairness, justice and order to the market.

The new company will mainly deal in satellite-related telecom business. The State Council has already okayed setting up local telecom administrative offices.

According to Jiang, a competitive system will emerge in China's telecom market involving the five leading telecom companies of China Telecom, China Unicom, China Mobile, China Netcom, China Satellite and others, as well as other nine Internet operators.

Juergen D. Lagleder, senior vice-president of Siemens Ltd. China, said China's telecom market welcomes foreign investors before its entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO). Siemens Ltd. China is optimistic about business expansion in China in the near future, Lagleder said.

The telecom industry is one of the fastest-growing sectors of China's economy, and one which the WTO has requested China open to foreign countries.

The government's long-term monopoly of the domestic telecom industry resulted in complaints from the people and lack of confidence in the market from foreign investors.

Economists predict the telecom industry will face the greatest impact when China enters WTO. Therefore, establishing a competitive market now is vital for the domestic enterprises if they are to be ready for the fierce competition from foreign telecom companies.

China started breaking the government monopoly in the industry in 1994 by setting up China Unicom. Now, a number of foreign telecom equipment manufacturers such as Ericsson, Nokia and Motorola have entered the Chinese market. But telecom service is still closed to foreign dealers.

(People’s Daily)