China Unicom shares still halted

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The two largest units of China Unicom claimed on Thursday that, their shares would remain suspended for no reason, one day after the group announced it was raising 11.7 billion US dollar from investors, which includes tech giants Alibaba Group, Tencent Holdings, Baidu and JD.com.

China Unicom's Hong Kong shares were suspended on Wednesday, and its Shanghai-listed shares have been halted since early April.

With no further explanation, an official from China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd said, the announcement was taken down from the Shanghai exchange due to "technical issues".

According to Reuters, in a stock market filing late on Wednesday, China Unicom said it would release documents on the share placement within three trading days and would resume trade.

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As the first batch of state-owned enterprises slated for the mixed-ownership reform, China Unicom's fundraising shows how the country's state-owned enterprises revitalized by private capital.

In China Unicom's reform, the funds would be raised by the group's Shanghai unit through the sale of new and existing shares, investors together will get a combined 35.2-percent stake in the company as well as three board seats.

Edison Lee, an analyst at brokerage Jefferies, said the flip-flop regarding the China Unicom deal announcement does not "affect the overall ownership reform plan... But yes, it is weird. The announcement appears rushed," he said.