China Netcom has announced the formal opening of a new branch China Netcom (Japan) in Tokyo.

China Netcom (Japan) is a wholly-owned company of China Netcom. It will be engaged in promoting the development of international voice, data lines and Internet service between China and Japan, helping China Netcom build closer relations with operators of Japan and the Asia Pacific region and providing related wholesale service to international operators.

China Netcom says that the Japanese branch will work with the company's branch in Hong Kong, the U.S. and Europe to provide more convenience and better service to clients. China Netcom has been exploring the Japanese market for a long time. As early as one year ago, it set up a communications base in Tokyo with the purpose of providing leasing service to Japanese Internet service providers. In March 2007, it invested JPY300 million in setting up a solely-owned company to apply for telecom licenses from the Japanese authority.

Besides the opening of the Japanese branch, the company also signed an agreement with Japan's KDDI on the broadcasting of 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. According to the agreement, the parties will make use of the seabed fiber cable between China and Japan to provide large volume and high quality communications services to Japanese media during 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.