China Mobile Communications Corporation (China Mobile) is thought to have signed an agreement that sees it become the sixth prestige partner of the Guangzhou Asian Games, which take place next year.

The largely state-owned company is the world's largest mobile phone operator ranked by number of subscribers, with 415 million customers, and the second largest by revenue behind Vodafone, which owns 3.3 per cent of China Mobile. China Mobile is the largest company registered in Hong Kong and the largest market capital company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, surpassing HSBC.

The company is currently involved in a major drive to cover every Chinese city with its 3G network, a project that will cost it US$8.6 billion in 2009 alone. It is in competition with a number of other operators to capture the potentially lucrative domestic market for mobile-data services, and will offer mobile phone highlights of the Asian Games as part of its attempts to secure new subscribers.

Guangzhou will be the second city in China to host the Asian Games after Beijing in 1990. 42 events will be contested - the most in the history of the competition.