China Mobile: Shanghai IPO will be small

China Mobile<941>, the leading mobile service operator in China, will not sell a great amount of shares at its Shanghai IPO as the company has very healthy cash position and strong cashflows, according to the company's chairman and CEO Wang Jianzhou.

The Chinese government has been encouraging the red-chip Chinese companies to return to the A-share market, and China Mobile has to go through some legal procedures prior to its Shanghai listing as it is incorporated outside of China and listed in Hong Kong.

China Mobile intends to sell existing shares, rather than issuing new ones, which is in the interest of existing shareholders, according to Wang.

As of the end of 2007, the company had net cash of RMB 153 billion.