The Apple iPhone 5 may debut on China's mainland earlier than expected after the company received consumer electronics certification from the Chinese regulator, Shanghai Daily learned Wednesday.

The 3C (China compulsory certification) mark came just five days after the iPhone 5 started selling in the US, Hong Kong and Singapore on Friday. The certification used to take one or two months for previous iPhone models.

The faster 3C nod means the iPhone 5 will debut in the mainland in October, earlier than hopes for the end of this year.

The quicker debut also marks Apple's focus on the Chinese market, its second biggest by revenue. In the second quarter, Apple China's revenue hit US$5.7 billion, or 20 percent of its global income.

The WCDMA (wideband code division multiple access) and CDMA 2000 models have the 3C nod.