Research in Motion (RIM), the company behind the BlackBerry mobile email device, has received permission to sell its handsets in mainland China, the Toronto-based Globe and Mail said. A RIM manager in Beijing told the newspaper that BlackBerry 8700g handsets would go on sale in China at the end of August, priced at about US$700. Customers have already placed 5,000 advance orders. The Canadian company first applied for approval to sell its products in China several years ago, registering its trademark in the country in 1999, not long after it launched in North America. In 2002, it went into partnership with China Mobile to formally enter the market but ran into difficulties with the regulators. Intense lobbying by Canadian officials finally secured approval, the newspaper said.