China Datang may sell 20 pct stake to NSSF - media

BEIJING, July 9 (Reuters) - Datang Telecom (600198.SS), a telecom equipment maker, is in talks to sell a 20-percent stake to China's national pension fund worth as much as 3 billion yuan ($428.6 million), China Daily reported on Thursday.

Datang Telecom, the major developer of China's TD-SCDMA standard for third generation telecom services, and the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) had not yet settled on a price tag for the proposed private placement, said the newspaper, citing unnamed company sources.

Datang and NSSF officials were not available for comment.

The report comes just a week after the newspaper said China's state asset watchdog is encouraging China Mobile (0941.HK), the world's biggest mobile phone carrier by users, to buy shares in the country's biggest commercial bank ICBC (1398.HK).

The State-owned Asset Supervision and Administration Commission is pushing China Mobile to buy stakes in the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, but the discussion is still in the early stages, the China Daily had said.

The funds raised by Datang will be used to boost its production and improve working capital, the paper said, citing company sources.

Last year, the State Development and Investment Corp (SDIC) bought a 35-percent stake in Datang Telecom Holdings for 5 billion yuan, it said.

($=6.83 yuan) (Reporting by Kirby Chien; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)