China Telecom gave no information Wednesday about plans, reported in the Hong Kong
and mainland media, to split the company into two parts ahead of a listing this year.

"We haven't heard of this news," company spokesman Ma Yan said.

According to today's Chinadaily.com.cn, He said any decision to break up the company would not be made by China Telecom but by the Ministry of Information Industry (MII), the country's telecoms regulator.

Asked whether senior company officials had knowledge of such a plan, he said; "They don't know about it either".

Hong Kong's Apple Daily newspaper said Wednesday that China Telecom would split into northern and southern operations with independent management.

The southern company would spin off its operations in the provinces of Guangdong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and in Shanghai, for a flotation, the newspaper said.

These assets would account for only one third of the company's present assets, the paper said.

China Telecom planned to list half its assets, including operations in Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shandong provinces and the cities of Shanghai and Beijing, the paper said.

Mainland newspapers have carried similar reports, the spokesman said.

An MII spokesman said he knew of no such plans.

"I haven't heard or seen anything of this sort," he said.

Bankers working on the IPO said they had not been told of any break-up.

"We are still proceeding with the original plan. We have not been told that there is going to be a break-up," said one banker, who requested anonymity.

China Telecom has not said which assets would be included in the planned initial public offering -- possibly Asia's biggest ever outside Japan --which is slated for later this year.

The IPO plan has not yet been approved by the government, leaving it open to possible changes, the banker said.

China Telecom plans a joint listing in Hong Kong and the United States. Bankers say it could be as big as US$5-7 billion.