"Myanmar will be an important new market for the global mobile industry, " Vodafone and China Mobile said in their statement.

BBC: Vodafone and China Mobile make Burma mobile bid

Details of the meeting were scant, but a China Mobile spokesman said it was regarding "matters of co-operation" in the region.

BBC: China mobile users warned about large botnet threat

Wang Jianzhou, China Mobile's chairman, said that the company had "made positive strides" in 2011 against the backdrop of China's "steady and fast economic growth".

BBC: China Mobile profits rise in 2011 on data downloads

"The "triple-dual" MOTO XT882 is the first smartphone of its kind, and shows Motorola's commitment to bringing incredible mobile internet experiences to people in China, " said Frank Meng, corporate senior vice president, and president, Greater China of Motorola Mobility, Inc.

ENGADGET: blogger-avatar

That said, Wang also announced that China Mobile aims to sell twice as many TD-SCDMA devices this year, with smartphones expected to take up over 80 percent of that segment -- hardly a challenge considering they already reached 94.4 percent in the last quarter.

ENGADGET

But the scale of the threat was highlighted earlier this week when the chairman of China Mobile - the world's largest telecom carrier - said his firm was now more concerned about the challenge posed by Microsoft's Skype and Tencent's WeChat services than it was about competition from China's rival mobile networks.

BBC: O2's Tu Go aims to challenge Skype and other Voip apps

Amsterdam-based PPF Group NV's Home Credit, which lends in places such as Belarus and Slovakia, said it is approving about 5, 000 loans daily in China for mobile phones, appliances and motorcycles, more than double the number in 2011.

WSJ: Loans Surge to Asia's Growing Middle Class

Talks between Apple and China Mobile have been going on for years and are stuck on revenue sharing terms, analysts said, so it is tough to say if this meeting would break new ground.

FORBES: Apple's Tim Cook Has Talks With China Mobile: Little Expected As A Result

In news from the media industry, whose fortunes are also tied to the consumer and broader economy, Modern Media of China said yesterday it would hook up with licensing partner Bloomberg to offer Businessweek via mobile phone and tablet PC (see related story here).

FORBES: Lujiazui Breakfast: News And Views About China Stocks -- Aug. 29

Modern Media Holdings, which partners with Bloomberg L.P. to publish a Chinese-language edition of Bloomberg Businessweek in China, said yesterday it has reached an agreement with the U.S. media giant to develop mobile and tablet products in addition to its print version.

FORBES: Modern Media To Launch Bloomberg Businessweek Smartphone, Tablet Offerings in China