China Mobile, the world's biggest telecom company by market value, has started work on listing its shares on the domestic market, the Shanghai Securities News reported Saturday.

Chairman and CEO Wang Jianzhou said Friday on the sidelines of the 2009 Summer Davos in China's northeastern Dalian city that the company had launched work for Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the Chinese mainland.

Wang said the company has been trying for domestic listing for years and he hoped this would come to fruition as sooner as possible.

Stocks of China Mobile, one of the most profitable companies in China, are currently traded in Hong Kong. Its market value has exceeded US$346 billion, the newspaper said.

But as 99 percent of its customers are on the Chinese mainland, the company is increasing efforts to offer its shares to investors at home.

Wang also said Friday the company would invest 6 billion yuan (about US$879) to subsidize its third-generation (3G) communications operations this year.

(Xinhua News Agency September 12, 2009)