Chinese telecom operator China Unicom has signed cooperating agreements with five mobile phone retail channel providers in Guangdong.

The five mobile phone retail chain enterprises include Shenzhen Hengbo, Guangdong Dadi, Dongguan Jietong, Guangdong Junhe, and Guangdong Longyue. This is reportedly the first time for China Unicom to sign comprehensive strategic cooperating agreements with regional mobile phone retailers since the formal commercial operation of its WCDMA 3G business.

Under the agreements, China Unicom will authorize the five retailers to sell China Unicom's various services, including 3G, 2G, and broadband; in return, these retailers will build special zones for China Unicom in their 1,200 stores to promote the operator's communication products and services.

With the cooperation, users can access China Unicom's full services as well as various preferential policies in chain stores of the five retailers.

The retail stores of the five retailers cover many provinces in Guangdong, South China and Central China. They mainly sell well-known Chinese and overseas branded mobile phones and their combined annual sales are over three million sets, of which 40% are WCDMA 3G mobile phones.