The Chinese government has renewed calls for private investment in the country’s telecommunication firms as it encourages them to cut fees and other costs and become more competitive in offering internet-related services. The country’s big telecoms firms, China Telecom Corp Ltd, China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd and China Mobile Ltd, are all units of unwieldy state-owned enterprises. The government will open the telecommunications industry to private investment and give “free rein to telecommunications companies in the development of the internet,” according to a notice issued by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council.