Vodafone AirTouch Plc ("Vodafone") announces today that it has signed an agreement with China Unicom Limited ("China Unicom") whereby the two companies will work towards exp anding their relationship in China in certain areas of mutual interest.

The agreement covers co-operation in two important areas:

• The two companies will work towards providing global roaming services to their respective customer bases. Vodafone will endeavor to have its controlled subsidiaries initiate discussions with China Unicom towards signing standard non-exclusive roaming agreements with China Unicom and its affiliate companies.
• Vodafone and China Unicom will discuss co-operation in the areas of mobile technology and operations within the regulatory framework of the PRC and in accordance with the market opening schedules in China's accession to the WTO.

Bill Keever, President of the Americas and Asia Region for Vodafone said: "With over 1.2 billion people, China represents an important wireless opportunity. We look forward to working with China Unicom and gaining an on-the-ground understanding of the future potential of doing business in China, as well as offering our GSM customers the ability to roam seamlessly as they travel in China."

President Wang Jianzhou of China Unicom added, "We are proud to co-operate with Vodafone, a leading global wireless provider with an unparalleled network of cellular operations worldwide. We believe that our agreement will lead to benefits in terms of global roaming and are excited to enter into discussions regarding areas of co-operation in mobile operations including wireless data and future joint ventures and partnerships in China upon China's accession to the WTO."

•  Vodafone AirTouch Plc, based in the United Kingdom, is the world's largest wireless telecommunications company. It has mobile operations in 26 countries on five continents, and at the end of March 2000 had more than 53 million proportionate customers world wide.
  
  China Unicom Limited is China's second largest cellular operator with over 4.2 million cellular subscribers at the end of 1999 in 12 of the country's provinces and municipalities. It is also China's fast growing integrated telecommunications services provider offering a wide range of telecommunication services, including cellular, paging, domestic and international long distance, data and Internet services. China Unicom is a limited liability company organized under the laws of Hong Kong.
  
  WTO - World Trade Organisation
  
  PRC - People's Republic of China
  
  
  For further information contact:
  
  Vodafone AirTouch Plc
  Terry Barwick, Director of Corporate Affairs
  Tim Brown, Investor Relations Director
  Melissa Stimpson, Senior Investor Relations Manager
  Mike Caldwell, Corporate Communications Director
  Telephone: +44 (0) 1635 33251
  
  Tavistock Communications
  Lulu Bridges
  Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7600 2288
  
  
  press.office@vodafone.com