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To: James Connolly who wrote (15349)	9/22/1998 6:19:00 PM
From: Ruffian	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 152472

All, News not good out of China; China puts squeeze on telecom firms REUTERS SHANGHAI, Sept 22 -China may be about to disconnect some foreign telecommunications firms in its domestic market in a move that could have broad repercussions for badly needed investment from abroad. In a policy shift that apparently has the blessing of Premier Zhu Rongji, China is considering shutting the door on joint ventures with upstart network operator China Unicom that have been used to sidestep tough restrictions on foreign companies. `There is a very black mood in the telecommunications sector,' - FOREIGN ANALYST "There is a very black mood in the telecommunications sector," said a foreign analyst who asked not to be named. China has informally told companies with such ventures - most of them in the mobile telephone sector - that no new projects would be allowed and that existing ones might even have to be bought out. Officials at the Ministry of Information Industry - which regulates the telecommunications sector - had no comment. China Unicom said it could not speculate on any possible policy shifts until it had seen written notification of any change. China Unicom, formally known as China United Telecommunications Corp, was set up in 1994 to break what was then the monopoly of the telecommunications ministry. It is still the junior member of the industry but Chinese officials see the company as the source of a loophole in regulations barring foreign companies from operating a domestic telephone network, foreign analysts said. The China Unicom formula, referred to as the "zhong-zhong-wai" model (China, China-foreign) creates a joint venture to invest in network infrastructure. China Unicom operates the network but the joint venture with the foreign partner receives a "consulting fee" in return. "It's a well-known story within the industry that Zhu Rongji is not in favor of the model that China Unicom has been using with foreign investors," said an industry source. Bell Canada International Inc. (BCICF) price change $10.56 -0.188