Shi Jixing

China Mobile official breaks ranks on 3G policy

In a remarkable interview with the Financial Times, China Mobile vice-Chairman Shi Jixing has slammed the government's dealing with the third generation mobile communication, 3G. Shi is also member of the NPC.
China's government has been delaying the decision making on issuing the 3G-licenses process over the past few years, not only causing desperation among the potential foreign investors, but also among the key Chinese players.

Beijing was missing an opportunity for 3G networks – which allow the use of data-intensive services such as video on mobile handsets – to become a telecoms powerhouse, said Mr Shi, who is also a member of China’s National People’s Congress.
Policy, he said, was deadlocked between the Ministry of Information Industry, the Nat­ional Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), a state assets commission, and the State Council’s “informatisation” office.
“There are unclear responsibilities and low efficiency,” he said. “This means the excellent strategic opportunity presented by 3G is not being grasped in time.”

China has been working hard to get its own Chinese standard TD-SCDMA out in China to give the technology a head start. For government officials like Mr. Shi - he is still more an official than a business man - it is very uncommon to criticize the government publicly.