SHENZHEN, May 12, 2010 (SinoCast Daily Business Beat via COMTEX) -- China Unicom (Hong Kong) Limited (NYSE: CHU, HKSE: 0762, and SHSE: 600050), one of the Big Three telecom operator in the country, announced yesterday that it entered into a strategic partnership with renowned insurance firm Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China Ltd. (SHSE: 601318 and SEHK: 2318).
The two partners inked a strategic cooperation agreement on the day, saying that they will work together in mobile payment, distribution resources, and client base expansion, a move that market analysts described as a response to the much-hyped China Mobile Ltd. (SEHK: 0941 and NYSE: CHL)-Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Co., Ltd. (SHSE: 600000) deal.
Under the agreement, China Unicom will deepen its strategic cooperation with Ping An Insurance in infrastructure telecom service, business applications, R&D, finance & insurance, as well as promotion & marketing. In addition, the collaborators will research and develop all sorts of interactive applications based on smartphone and high-speed mobile data network to come up with the diversifying demand in the 3G era.
The alliance will enable the two companies to share their client resources and enlarge their foothold in the world's most populous market, pointed out market observers. Ma Mingzhe, chairman for Ping An Insurance, described the cooperation with China Unicom as a milestone tie that would help the insurance firm cut costs while ramping up competitiveness.
Chang Xiaobing, chairman for China Unicom, said that the partners would expand their cooperation in informationizing of the insurance industry down the road by making use of their client resources and advanced technologies. The two companies had launched cooperation in traditional business, with the insurer providing a package of integrated financial services for the operator, which, in turn, offers services in 3G, infrastructure communication, and Internet to its partner.
The companies will make a try in cooperation in innovative businesses such as mobile officing and mobile payment in the long run, said a spokesperson for Ping An Insurance.
The tie with Ping An Insurance is part of the telecom operator's efforts to stand toe-to-toe with its bigger rival China Mobile, according to an analyst at a big-sized securities brokerage firm in the country, noting that the insurer runs neck and neck with Pudong Development Bank in market influence.
Earlier this March, China Mobile announced that it had agreed to buy a 20% stake in Pudong Development Bank for CNY 39.8 billion or USD 5.8 billion in a deal to expand its business.
