Sept. 11 (Bloomberg) -- China Mobile Ltd., the world’s biggest phone company by market value, has begun working on listing its shares in the domestic market, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Wang Jianzhou said.

The carrier hopes regulators will allow the listing soon, Wang said today at the World Economic Forum meeting in Dalian. Authorities are working on rules that will facilitate listings of so-called “red-chip” companies, or overseas-incorporated Chinese firms, he said.

China Mobile, the third-biggest stock traded in Hong Kong, is stepping up efforts to offer its shares to investors in the world’s fastest-growing major economy, where a $586 billion stimulus is helping to compensate a slump in export demand from the U.S. and Europe. Chinese regulators are making preparations for greater international participation in its stock market, the second biggest in Asia.

“China Mobile doesn’t need the money, it’s more to comply with government policy,” said Marvin Lo, who rates the stock “outperform” at Daiwa Securities Group Inc. in Hong Kong. “It will help to boost the sentiment.”

The China Securities Regulatory Commission held an internal meeting in July to discuss setting up an international board on the Shanghai exchange on which overseas companies will trade for the first time, according to people with knowledge of the plans. Red-chip companies such as China Mobile and CNOOC Ltd. will also be allowed to list in the country, according to the people.

Chinese Listings

HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe’s biggest bank, has hired advisers for a possible listing in Shanghai, spokesman David Hall said last month. Lenovo Group Ltd., China’s biggest personal-computer maker, “looks forward” to listing its stock in the country, Chairman Liu Chuanzhi said last month.

In May, China Mobile’s Wang said the carrier was waiting for changes in stock market regulations before filing a listing application. The company was seeking to list its shares “as soon as possible,” Wang said.

China Mobile, whose shares debuted in Hong Kong’s exchange in 1997, and CNOOC Ltd., China’s biggest offshore oil explorer, are so-called “red-chip” companies that maintains most of their operations in China. They were incorporated overseas as part of government efforts in the 1990s to offer stock in the country’s biggest companies to private investors.

Separately, Wang said China Mobile will pay 6 billion yuan ($879 million) of handset subsidies for customers of its third- generation services. Last month, Chief Financial Officer Xue Taohai said the company will pay no more than 12 billion yuan of handset subsidies for its 2G and 3G businesses.

China Mobile has continued talks with Apple Inc. about offering the iPhone handset in China, Wang said. Rival China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd. last month said it reached a deal with the U.S. company to sell the device in the fourth quarter.

To contact the reporters on this story: Kevin Cho in Seoul at kcho2@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 11, 2009 02:15 EDT