According to Telefonica, the leading telecommunications operator in the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking world, the company has completed its stock swap with the Chinese telecom operator China Unicom.

Under the agreement signed by Chang Xiaobing, chairman of China Unicom, and Cesar Alierta, chairman of Telefonica, in Beijing at the beginning of September 2009, the two parties agreed to make mutual investments by acquiring shares of USD1 billion from each other. On the completion of this transaction, China Unicom would own a 0.88% stake in Telefonica; while Telefonica would increase its stake in China Unicom from the previous 5.38% to about 8%.

The strategic agreement also shows that China Unicom and Telefonica will enhance cooperation in joint purchase, mobile service platform development, transnational customer service, international roaming, and technology development. Meanwhile, the two parties will share their experiences and set up strategic cooperation projects to promote the communications and exchanges between them.