China Mobile is planning to begin analysis of the macroeconomic investment environment in five countries, including Germany, South Africa, Brazil, Portugal, and North Korea, and has invited bids from various consulting firms to conduct related research.

Wang Jianzhou, China Mobile’s chairman said on March last year that the company was looking to expand into other markets, but had been held back by high prices: ‘We saw opportunities, but the prices are far too high. That’s why China Mobile has made little progress in overseas expansion in recent years.’

In 2007, the company paid $560 million for what was then-Pakistan's fifth-largest mobile operator Paktel, which is now known as CMPak. But today, CMPak is still in fifth place in terms of subscribers – at the bottom of the heap among mobile carriers in Pakistan, with many analysts attributing the performance to China Mobile's failure on foreign soil without state support.