China United to sell asset-backed securities

Having found a way to legally circumvent government regulations to sell asset-backed securities, China United Telecommunications will become the first borrower to sell asset-backed securities on the Mainland, beating out China Construction Bank and China Development Bank which have won government approval for their sales, the Standard of Hong Kong reported. China United, China's second-largest mobile operator and parent of Hong Kong-listed China Unicom, plans to sell up to US$395m in short term securities, and could close the sales in two weeks. Asset-backed securities are short-term investments backed by payment streams from loans, receivables and leases.