The company, which is establishing an 8,000 kilometer broadband network to cover large Chinese cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, is in preliminary talks with the Chinese government about how to proceed with an initial public offering abroad, said Edward Tian, the company's chief executive.
"In the future, forward looking, equity finance is a very important part of our strategy to finance our growth," Tian said.
China is one of the world's fastest growing telecom markets, and the number of cell phone users is expected to grow more than 60 percent this year to 70 million. Those are all potential Internet users as well, because technological development will gradually make it easier to access the Web from mobile devices.
To develop such technology would require large investments.
China Netcom, however, said it's comfortable with its finances at the moment. The company received 3 billion yuan (US$361 million) in commercial loans for investment this year, Tian said.
China Netcom, which was formed in June last year, also expects to start generating revenue from the third quarter of this year, as it begins operating its broadband network. It expects to generate sales of US$50 million in the last two quarters of this year, Tian said.
The four shareholders of China Netcom are the Academy of Sciences, the Ministry of Railways, the Radio, Film and TV Administration, and the Shanghai municipal government.
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