China Mobile to invest in People's Daily Online

BEIJING: China Mobile will invest 20 million yuan ($2.93 million) to become a strategic investor in the People's Daily Online, a government-backed online news platform planning a mainland listing, the Wen Wei Po reported on Thursday, citing mainland media reports.

The People's Daily Online may restructure its shareholding and speed up its listing process, the newspaper said citing sources.

People's Daily Online President He Jiazheng declined to comment on the report but said the company was focusing on restructuring, the newspaper said.

Beijing had selected a number of state-backed online news platforms including Xinhuanet and Eastday.com to list shares to reduce government's financial burden and to enhance competitiveness, the newspaper said.

At least two online news platforms could issue A shares before the end of the year, it added.