China Unicom parent buys back shares, vows more

SHANGHAI, Sept 25  - The parent of China Unicom <600050.SS>, a major telecommunications services provider, has bought back 50 million shares in its listed subsidiary as major state-run firms heed Beijing's call to buy back shares in their listed units to prop up a volatile stock market.

The parent, which had owned 60.74 percent of the listed company, increased that to 60.97 percent by buying back the shares through the Shanghai Stock Exchange trading system on Wednesday, China Unicom said in a statement published in the official Shanghai Securities News.

It did not gave the value of the buyback.

The parent would continue to increase its stake in the listed company over the next 12 months, but the total stake would not exceed 2 percent of China Unicom's entire corporation's share capital, the statement said.

Local-currency A shares in Shanghai-listed China Unicom, which indirectly owns a similarly named Hong Kong subsidiary <0762.HK>, closed up 7.72 percent at 5.3 yuan on Wednesday, helping the overall market <.SSEC> reverse its early losses to finish the day up 0.7 percent.

Major shareholders of more than 20 listed firms, including the parent of top Asian oil producer PetroChina <601857.SS> <0857.HK>, have bought back or have announced plans to buy back shares over the past several weeks.

The government unveiled last week an unprecedented package of steps to bolster the sagging stock markets, including scrapping taxes on stock purchases and encouraging state-owned corporations to buy back shares of their listed units.