SK Telecom’s CEO Kim Shin-Bae appeared on a special live broadcast hosted by China’s CCTV in commemoration of China’s fifth anniversary in its entry into the WTO. Through his speech, he revealed his expectations about the additional opening of China’s telecom market, saying that it would lead to increased competitiveness of Chinese telecom operators due to investments and competition. He also added that SK Telecom would pursue globalization together with Korean and Chinese IT companies, playing the role of a bridge for cooperation of the telecom sectors of the two countries.

SK Telecom’s CEO Kim Shin-Bae was invited to the "Special Report in Commemoration of the 5th Anniversary of China’s WTO Entry" hosted by CCTV, China’s only government broadcasting agency and the most influential. President Kim Shin-Bae was the only CEO of a foreign IT company to be invited, and appeared together with the CEO’s of China’s major telecom operators such as China Netcom, China Mobile, and China UNICOM.

The special live broadcast was made by CCTV to look back at the overall development of Chinese society during the five years since entry into the WTO, as well as to discuss future tasks, and was conducted in the Press Room of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China.

The broadcast consisted of sessions in four areas - IT, finance, consumer products and venture business - as well as performances and documentaries, and lasted for 16 hours from 7 am to 11 pm.
President Kim Shin-Bae attended the IT session among the four industry areas, titled "Opportunities and Challenges for China’s Information Industry", which was conducted for one hour from 11 am to 12 pm on December 11th.

Attendants of the IT session included Vice Minister Jiang Yao Ping of the Ministry of Information Industry of the People’s Republic of China, Vice Chairman Zuo Xun Sheng of China Netcom, Chairman Wang Jian Zhou of China Mobile, President Chang Xiao Bing of China UNICOM, Wang Xiao Chu of China Telecom, President Xu Li Hua of Bird, a mobile phone handset and equipment manufacturer in China.

During the session, President Kim made a 5 minute speech on "The Choice of Chinese Telecom Operators for a Leap Forward", and also had a Q&A session with reporters.

In his speech, President Kim Shin-Bae remarked, "The additional opening of China’s telecom service industry will promote technology and capital investments, resulting in intensified competition. This will drastically increase the competitiveness of Chinese telecom operators."

"SK Telecom will collaborate with Chinese and Korean IT companies to pursue globalization, to create a new cooperative model and serve as a bridge for cooperation between the telecommunication industries of the two countries," he said.

Also, in response to a question by a reporter about SK Telecom’s differentiation strategy in a situation in which globally prominent telecom companies are expected to step up efforts for entry into China, he responded, "SK Telecom is world’s best in terms of mobile telecom competence, and holds leadership in the convergence area. Together with its China partner, it will lead the global telecommunications market."

The fact that SK Telecom’s CEO Kim Shin-Bae was the only foreign CEO to be invited to CCTV’s special broadcast, among the numerous telecom companies worldwide, is symbolic of the influence of SK Telecom in the Chinese telecom market, which global telcos are increasingly approaching with expectations of market opening and selection of 3G service provider.

In June, SK Telecom established a strategic alliance with China Unicom, the number two mobile telecom operator in China, purchasing USD 1 billion of convertible bonds issued by China Unicom Limited, China Unicom’s legal entity listed in Hong Kong. In August, it agreed on cooperation in TD-SCDMA technology, China’s 3G mobile telecom technology standard, with China’s National Development and Reform Commission, and has been taking specific action to prepare for entry into the Chinese telecom market, such as pursuing the deployment of TD-SCDMA test beds.