Canadian technology firm Reasearch in Motion (RIM) has begun shipping its popular BlackBerry smartphones to China, and hopes to start selling them later this year, Reuters reported. Company executives expect the high-end model to capture a small piece of the market, but are still expecting high returns on their investment due to the rapid growth rate of China's mobile phone subscribers. The company had not previously invested in China due to regulatory obstacles. RIM reached a distribution deal with Alcatel-Lucent on Tuesday to sell the BlackBerry 8700 model, which already has been a popular model globally for several years. Following the announcement, RIM's shares rose 9.8% to a record high of US$124.53 on the Nasdaq exchange.