China United Network Communications Group Co., Ltd. (Chinese: 中国联合网络通信集团有限公司) or China Unicom (Chinese: 中国联通), is a Chinese state-owned telecommunications operator in the People's Republic of China. China Unicom is the world's fourth largest mobile service provider by subscriber base. On January 7, 2009, China Unicom was awarded WCDMA license to expand its business to 3G telecommunication.