China Telecom, the biggest fixed line telephone carrier in China is in talks with five potential foreign investors for a possible stake in the company.
William Li, an investor relationship official with China Telecom also said the investors are also looking at getting a possible stake in China Telecom, particularly in the carrier's 3G business.
'The issue is just in its early stage because we have to get the 3G mobile license first,' Li said in a phone interview.
The executive however declined to reveal the names of the potential investors.
A report from Sing Tao earlier said NTT DoCoMo, France Telecom, Deutsche Telekom, Verizon Communications, and SingTel are eyeing to buy a stake in China Telecom.
Analysts meanwhile said China Telecom still lags behind other mobile carriers.
Compared with the other three giants, China Mobile, China Unicom and China Netcom, China Telecom still lags behind on communicating at a global level with other carriers,' said Zhou Yi, an analyst at Analysys International.