Jan. 10 (Bloomberg) -- China Unicom Ltd., the smaller of the nation's two mobile-phone carriers, jumped the most in six weeks in Hong Kong trading on speculation the operator will sell its wireless networks to rivals.

Unicom shares rose 7.2 percent to HK$17.52, the biggest gain since Nov. 30. Beijing-based China Unicom may be preparing for the sale of its two networks at a three-day annual working meeting that started today, said Victor Yip, an analyst at UOB Kay Hian in Hong Kong.

Unicom shares have surged 30 percent in the last six months on speculation China will break up the carrier by selling its networks to fixed-line operators China Telecom Corp. and China Netcom Group Corp. (Hong Kong) Ltd. to increase competition in the world's largest wireless market by users.

``The market is very sensitive to any information about the restructuring,'' said Yip, who rates Unicom ``hold.'' China Unicom, which operates a network based on the code division multiple access technology and another on the global system for mobile communications standard, may agree to split management of the two networks, paving the way for their sale, Yip said.

China Unicom said in a statement to the Hong Kong exchange that it wasn't aware of a reason for today's stock gain. Sophia Tso, a Hong Kong-based spokeswoman for China Unicom, declined to comment on the timing and agendas of internal meetings.

China is home to the world's largest population of mobile- phone users, adding 7.9 million wireless subscribers in November for a total of 539.4 million.

China Telecom shares rose 6.1 percent to HK$7.00 today in Hong Kong and China Netcom gained 3.3 percent to HK$25.05. The two fixed-line companies currently don't provide mobile-phone services in the nation.

China Mobile Ltd., the world's biggest wireless-phone carrier by users, fell 1.1 percent to HK$135.10.

To contact the reporter on this story: John Liu in Shanghai at jliu42@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: January 10, 2008 04:39 EST