Speaking on the sidelines of the GSM Association’s Mobile Asia Congress in Hong Kong on Wednesday, Wang Jianzhou, the Chairman and CEO of China Mobile – the world’s leading mobile phone service provider by subscribers – said that the company is still in talks with Apple, with regard to the sale of the popular iPhone in China.

Jianzhou said: “I think the iPhone is a very good phone for consumers and is very popular with young customers so China Mobile has continued negotiations with Apple to introduce the iPhone on China Mobile's network.”

The statement by Jianzhou has come despite the fact that the iPhone sales in China got underway last month from China Mobile’s rival company - China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd.

Though China Mobile made public iPhone-specific talks with Apple nearly two years back, the negotiations have been on for years. However, both the companies, for certain undisclosed reasons, failed to strike an agreement pertaining to iPhone sales by China Mobile.

Meanwhile, noting that its extensive network can offer economies of scale, Jianzhou said that China Mobile will be in a position to lower its capital expenditure in the future.

However, Jianzhou also added that the iPhone is only one model; and that the company will like to contribute to the diversification of the handset market by encouraging all handset manufacturers to sell more models.