Keep an eye on - Stop Press - telecommunications industry executive Edward Tian - Brief Article

Business Asia, Dec, 2001

Edward Tian, who was tapped by Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji two years ago to build a network to compete with China's largest phone operator, may end up leading part of the bureaucracy he was supposed to outmaneuver. The government said last month that China Telecommunications, which has 171 million customers, will be split in two.

Under the breakup, China Netcom Corp, which Tian built from scratch, will take over about a quarter of China Telecom's customers and operate in 10 northern provinces. It didn't say whether Tian will head the new company. A decision to appoint Tian, 38, who earned doctorate from Texas Tech University, would be a vote of confidence in private industry by China's communist Government. Even so, Tian may find it hard to run part of a company with assets more than 10 times those of Netcom and 130 times more staff, analysts said.