ZTE Corp., a major telecommunications equipment maker in China, said it had received approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission for its plan to offer shares and list in Hong Kong.

The company has previously said it expects to use proceeds from the planned share offering to help fund its overseas expansion, as well as for research and development.

ZTE, which lists yuan-denominated A shares in Shenzhen, plans an initial public offering for up to 162.2 million shares and plans to list on the main board in Hong Kong. The IPO plan still needed approval from Hong Kong regulators, ZTE said.

ZTE also said that net profit more than doubled year on year in the third quarter as core revenue increased.

The Shenzhen-based company's net profit rose to 213.2 million yuan (US$25.75 million) in the third quarter from 100.7 million yuan a year earlier. Core revenue rose 16 percent to 4.56 billion yuan over the same period.

During the January to September period, ZTE's net profit jumped to 726.4 million yuan from 295.5 million yuan as its core revenue grew 67 percent to 16.33 billion yuan.

ZTE said it continued to expand its international sales in the first nine months.

ZTE's A shares inched down 0.70 percent at 25.43 yuan each in Shenzhen Stock Exchange trading Tuesday.

(Shenzhen Daily November 3, 2004)