SHANGHAI, March 29 (Xinhuanet) -- Chinese telecom giant China Unicom released here Monday that its operating revenue reached 59.8 billion yuan last year, up 31.2 percent over 2002.

    The company, listed in Hong Kong, New York and Shanghai, earneda net profit of 2.33 billion yuan in 2003, a year-on-year rise of 6.3 percent, the company said.

    The operating revenue in its mobile phone business totaled 53.8billion yuan last year, up 36.5 percent over 2002, and CDMA mobilephone business contributed most to the revenue growth.

    The company's CDMA users amounted to 16.91 million by the end of 2003, a year-on-year rise of 170.8 percent, said the company, the only CDMA service provider in China.

    The losses of its CDMA business shrank from 1.5 billion yuan in2002 to 320 million last year, pushing up the company's operating revenue.

    "China Unicom plans to promote mobile phones adaptable to both CDMA and GSM this year," said Wang Jianzhou, president and chairman of the board of China Unicom.

    Several mobile phone makers, Samsung, LG and Motorola, have promoted their own products adaptable to CDMA and GSM.

    China Unicom is a major rival to China Mobile and China Telecom.It was listed in Hong Kong and New York in 2000 and in Shanghai in2002. Enditem