China Unicom +2.2% as it talks ownership reform again

• China Unicom (NYSE:CHU) is up 2.2% in U.S. trading as it fans more talk about possible reforms of mixed ownership, prompting talk that private investments could follow.
• That follows discussions from Unicom last fall about a mixed-ownership reform plan, in which the state-owned telecom might take strategic investment from the likes of Tencent, Alibaba and Baidu.
• Reforming SOEs in China is moving slowly, though, Shuli Ren notes, adding that aside from mixed-ownership reform, China Unicom has another big catalyst ahead: a likely IPO for joint venture China Tower Co.
• China Unicom closed up 2.1% in Hong Kong Wednesday.