Shanda eyes mobile games tie-ups

Online gaming giant Shanda Entertainment is in talks with China's two largest cell phone operators to distribute its games on mobile platforms for the first time. Run by Chinese billionaire Tianqiao Chen, ranked by Forbes as China's third richest man, NASDAQ-listed Shanda is looking to offer its games through China Mobile and China Unicom services when they start offering high-speed 3G services, expected to get the go-ahead next year. Analysts say gaming looks set to be one of the big hopes for next-generation mobile services in China, with a ready market willing to pay extra to play games on the go. With mobile ownership is reaching saturation point in China's richest cities, operators are looking to new features to drive revenue growth.