According to SinoCast, China Mobile is attempting to buy 20% of Shanghai Pudong Development Bank (SPDB) for about USD 5.85 billion.

China Mobile's move has met with opposition from the state-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), the agency that monitors all Chinese central-government-controlled companies.

Liu Nanchang, director at the comprehensive bureau of SASAC, says that they are not in favour of China Mobile's investment in the bank. SASAC takes the position that the SPDB purchase represents a non-core business investment. The commission has not called for cross-industry integration among state-owned companies. The investment is said to be carried out by China Mobile's subsidiary in Guangdong Province.

"It is obvious to see that China Mobile hopes to avoid scrutiny and inspection of the commission. Mobile payment will face several challenges such as financial regulation and the high operation costs," says Xiang Ligang, CEO of Cctime.com.

In 2009, China Mobile began letting some users pay bills with their handsets, and started providing other new services such as mobile television and electronic readers. A deal with SPDB is seen as providing some synergies. China Mobile's mobile payment system has met with a cool reception from Chinese banks.

In 2000, China Mobile launched an STK-based mobile banking service with the backing of a number of banks. But the service has not been well received because it is only available when handset users change their SIM card to an STK card. In August 2003, China Mobile set up a joint venture with China UnionPay to promote mobile payment applications, to enable its subscribers to make payments by sending short messages.

China Mobile has launched its mobile payment service in ten Chinese provinces. The service is to expand nationwide this year.