Published : 19/07/2025
On July 19, 1994, China United Telecommunications Corporation (referred to as China Unicom) was established. The development of Unicom benefited from China's telecom reform and also witnessed the progress of China's telecom reform.
Before the establishment of China Unicom, China's public telecommunications network was exclusively operated by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, which combined government and enterprise functions.
In the second half of 1992, the former Ministry of Electronics Industry, Ministry of Electric Power, and Ministry of Railways jointly submitted a report to the State Council of China, formally requesting the formation of China Unicom.
The report particularly pointed out that the supply and demand contradiction in the Chinese telecom market was very sharp and that only by introducing competition could the telecom industry develop faster.
On July 19, 1994, representatives from the former Ministry of Electronics Industry, Ministry of Electric Power, Ministry of Railways, State Economic and Trade Commission, and the 10 major shareholders witnessed the historic moment of the establishment of China United Telecommunications Corporation.
This marked the first time that China introduced competition in the basic telecom business field, symbolising the official beginning of telecom industry reform in China.
With only 1.34 billion RMB in registered capital, China Unicom was officially listed. In addition to mobile communications, China Unicom's main businesses also included international and domestic long-distance communications, data communications, the Internet, and IP telephony.
In 1995, China Unicom used GSM digital mobile communication technology to build China's second public mobile communication network in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Guangzhou.
Due to China Unicom's bold promotion of GSM, the former China Telecom was forced to respond, which helped promote the construction of the GSM network, causing the price of mobile phones at that time to drop significantly from 28,000 RMB per unit to 4,000-5,000 RMB.
Carrying the mission of "breaking the monopoly, introducing competition, and developing the telecom industry," China Unicom moved forward step by step in the field of basic telecom in China.
On June 2, 2008, according to the "Notice on Deepening the Reform of the Telecom System" by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Ministry of Finance, China Unicom sold its CDMA network assets and users to China Telecom and completed a merger with China Netcom by exchanging shares with its GSM network and other businesses, while retaining the "China Unicom" brand for the new company.