CABLE & Wireless and its majority owned Hongkong Telecom are ready to operate in China as soon as the barriers are removed.
Lord Young, the chairman of both companies, said yesterday if the walls were to come down tomorrow morning the company would be in Beijing by the afternoon.
'We're ready to go in - it's up to them,' Lord Young said after a roadshow presentation at City Hall to customers and investors.
'But the policy in China has to change.' Hongkong Telecom chief executive Linus Cheung said the company hoped to make some announcements in the near future.
In a bid to prove the company's commitment to China, Cable & Wireless will hold its monthly board meeting in Shanghai on Monday - its first in China and the first outside Britain for 18 months.
The group also plans to open more regional offices in China to capitalise on the goodwill Cable & Wireless is generating. Lord Young is on the mayor of Shanghai's advisory council.
Mr Cheung said Hongkong Telecom had big plans for China. 'The board meeting is an indication of China's importance to Hongkong Telecom and Cable & Wireless,' he said.
