China Unicom Chairman: No Plans to Distribute Special Dividend

HONG KONG -(Dow Jones)- China Unicom Ltd. said Monday it has no plans to distribute a special dividend following its merger with China Netcom Group Corp. (Hong Kong) Ltd.

China Unicom Chairman and Chief Executive Chang Xiaobing told reporters at a press conference the company has the support of shareholder SK Telecom Co. (SKM), which owns a 6.61% stake in Unicom.

The China Unicom chairman also said the company has no plans to lay off any staff after the merger.

China Netcom Chairman and Chief Executive Zuo Xunsheng said Spain's Telefonica, which owns 7.22% of China Netcom, also supports the merger.

-By Lorraine Luk, Dow Jones Newswires; 852-2802-7002; lorraine.luk@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

Posted to the site on 2nd June 2008