China Mobile investing $5.8B in Chinese bank

[March 10, 2010]  HONG KONG (AP) -- China Mobile Ltd., the world's biggest phone company by subscribers, said Wednesday it was investing $5.8 billion in a Chinese bank as part of a plan to develop mobile phone banking and business services.

Under the agreement, China Mobile will pay 39.8 billion yuan ($5.8 billion) in cash for 20 percent of Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, the cell phone company said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange.

The two companies plan to work together to develop mobile phone services involving customer payments, bank cards, money transfers and other so-called e-commerce businesses.

Shanghai Pudong Development Bank is a mid-sized lender based in Shanghai.

[Associated Press]

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