2008年2月21日 中国移动将在伦敦设立海外扩张桥头堡

全球最大的移动电话运营商中国移动(China Mobile)正考虑在欧洲进行扩张。

China Mobile, the world’s largest mobile phone operator, is weighing up an expansion in Europe.

该集团今日将在伦敦开设其欧洲、中东和非洲地区总部，目标是向海外华人销售服务。中国移动正在考虑其多个备选方案。

The group, which opens its European, Middle Eastern and African headquarters in London today, aims to sell to Chinese overseas and is considering its options.

非洲和中东的新兴市场是该公司今年的首要目标，中国移动正考虑在欧洲建立一个虚拟移动网络。 Emerging markets in Africa and the Middle East are priorities for this year, and the company is considering setting up a virtual mobile network in Europe.

中国移动英国代表处(China Mobile UK)首席代表Henry Ge表示，中国移动将重点关注三个领域：新兴市场；希望与祖国保持联系的海外华人客户；以及“短期访问市场”，其中包括商务旅行客户和数量日益增长的中国游客。

Henry Ge, chief representative of China Mobile UK, said his group would focus on three areas: emerging markets; overseas Chinese customers wanting to keep in touch with home; and “the short-term visiting market”, which included travelling business customers and the growing number of Chinese tourists.

中国移动此次进军中欧、东欧和中东这些新兴市场，可能使其面临沃达丰(Vodafone)和西班牙电话公司(Telefónica)等西方运营商的竞争。沃达丰持有中国移动3.3%的股权。

China Mobile’s move into emerging markets in central and Eastern Europe, as well as the Middle East, could pit it against western operators such as Vodafone and Telefónica. Vodafone owns a 3.3 per cent stake in China Mobile.

中国移动的扩张计划是中国政府鼓励中国企业“走出去”、进行海外投资政策的一部分。

China Mobile’s expansion is part of the Beijing government’s “go global” policy of encouraging Chinese companies to invest abroad.

就在欧洲电信运营商对新兴市场投资之际，中国的电信企业正考虑在国外采取相同的举措。

Just as European operators are investing in emerging markets, Chinese telecoms companies are looking to do the same outside their home territory.

中国第二大固话运营商中国网通(China Netcom)去年11月份在伦敦开设了其欧洲总部。

China Netcom, the country’s second-largest fixed-line telephone company, opened a European headquarters in London last November.

Henry Ge承认，中国移动试图实现有机增长的努力可能进展缓慢，需要耗时多达5年。事实上，他希望与具备管理强大网络能力的合作伙伴进行合作。

Mr Ge admitted China Mobile’s attempts to grow organically could be slow and take up to five years. Instead, he was looking to co-operate with partners with the ability to manage a robust network.

他补充表示，中国移动并不需要收购一家本土公司来获得英国业务牌照。

He added that China Mobile did not need to buy a domestic company to obtain a licence for the UK.

面对国内竞争将日益激烈的前景，中国移动迫切希望在本国以外扩张。

China Mobile is keen to expand beyond its borders as it faces the prospect of increased competition at home.

由于人们对中国移动在国内市场的绝对主导地位感到担心，中国政府正在考虑对国有电信企业进行一次影响深远的重组。中国移动拥有国内市场70%的份额，用户数量达3.69亿户。

Beijing is considering a far-reaching restructuring of China’s state-controlled telcos in the face of concerns over China Mobile’s overwhelming domestic dominance – it has a 70 per cent market share and 369m customers.