Shanghai Unicom executives said they had not heard of the deal, while the spokesperson at the Beijing headquarters could not be reached for comment.

The report did not specify what services would be available, but Mr Branson had said two years ago it was in talks with mainland telecommunications companies on possible mobile partnership. Georgina Lee

HNA receives approval for cr airways acquisition

State-owned HNA Group has cleared a critical hurdle in its bid for Hong Kong's CR Airways with approval by the Economic Development and Labour Bureau.

The bureau sent CR Airways' shareholders letters of consent at the weekend after a move by HNA chairman Chen Feng to ensure CR Airways retained its routes as a designated Hong Kong carrier.

Mr Chen's agreement to take only a 45 per cent stake in CR Airways instead of the original 60 per cent allayed government fears that the firm would be foreign-controlled.

Under the new shareholder structure, China Sun Wah (Hong Kong) will acquire a 45 per cent stake in CR Airways from founder Robert Yip Kwong while Mr Yip and Meng Jianqiang will hold the balance.

Charlotte So

cnpc signs gas pact with turkmenistan

PetroChina parent China National Petroleum Corp has signed an agreement with the Turkmenistan government to import 30 billion cubic metres of natural gas for 30 years from 2009.

The mainland and the Central Asian nation will conduct joint exploration and development of gas fields along the Amu Darya River near the Turkmen-Uzbek border and co-operate to build a gas pipeline. Interfax

hk express wins nod for southeast asia services

Hong Kong Express Airways yesterday said it had received approval to operate flights to Chiang Mai in Thailand and charter flights to the northern Philippine resort city of Laoag.

The charter passenger flights to Laoag will commence today and the leg to Chiang Mai will start in June. Charlotte So