The State Development and Reform Commission (SDRC) has ratified a plan by China Railcom to issue one billion yuan worth of bonds this year, the company said.

China Railcom's board director Zhao Jibin said earlier that the company will list on the stock market within two or three years.

The telecom operator is negotiating with domestic financial and telecom companies and has reached agreements with some of them, including Yingtong Company from south China's Guangdong Province.

The company is also seeking cooperation with international telecom operators and IT products manufacturers, including Cisco from the United States and Nortel Networks Corp. from Canada, Zhao said.

Last June, with ratification from the SDRC, China Railcom set up a board of directors to diversify its capital structure and reform itself into a stock company.

To speed up its listing, China Railcom has launched a special department responsible for the issue, Zhao said.

China Railcom is the country's fifth largest telecom operator after China Telecom, China Netcom, China Unicom and China Mobile. Of the six major telecom operators in China, only China Railcom and China Satcom are not listed.

Last year, China Railcom's assets totaled 47.6 billion yuan and its annual sales rose 37 percent from 2001 to 2003. It grew 51 percent in 2004. (1 dollar = 8.27 yuan).