The news comes as investors and bankers were on Friday awaiting the pricing of Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi’s initial public offering, which could raise up to US$6.1 billion (RM24.6 billion).

Xiaomi’s deal is seen as a key test of market sentiment for what is expected to be a packed second-half of the year in terms of IPOs in Hong Kong.

China Tower won approval from Hong Kong’s listing committee, an independent group of market participants convened by the Hong Kong exchange. The company could begin pre-marketing of the deal as soon as next week. Books could open as soon as July 9.

Timing will, however, depend somewhat on how well Xiaomi’s deal is received, sources said. Xiaomi is due to start trading on July 9.

China Tower did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing declined to comment on approval for China Tower’s IPO.

China Tower, formed by merging the mobile tower operations of China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom in 2014, is looking to raise between US$8 billion (RM32 billion) and US$10 billion (RM40 billion).

At the top end, the deal would value the company at US$40 billion (RM161 billion) and would also mark the world’s largest IPO since Alibaba set a record in 2014 with its US$25 billion (RM101 billion) New York deal.

CICC and Goldman Sachs are the joint sponsors of China Tower’s IPO.