China Unicom recently announced that the company has entered into an agreement with Spanish telecom operator Telefonica, whereby both parties will each spend US$1 billion on the share purchases and collaborate in various WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access)-related business areas, the Xinhua News reported on September 6. Pursuant to the agreement, Telefonica will increase its stake in China Unicom to 8.06%, up from the current 5.38% while China Unicom will buy approximately a 0.88% stake in Telefonica. Additionally, they will team up in several business areas, including R&D, joint purchase of equipment, development of mobile service platforms, and service provision to multinational clients.

After the completion of the transaction, the combined number of subscribers of these two telecom operators will reach around 550 million, accounting for approximately 8.6% of the world's total population, the Sina News reported on September 6. Telefonica had a 9.9% take in China Netcom, which was taken over by China Unicom in early 2009 following the overhaul of the Chinese telecom industry.