Vodafone has pocketed $6.5bn (£4.2bn) in cash following the sale of its 3.2% stake in China's biggest wireless¹ operator, China Mobile.

沃达丰将中国移动——中国最大的手机网络运营商——3.2%的股份出售，成交额高达65亿美元。

It is the biggest such sale by the UK-based phone company of its non-strategic investments.

The buyers of the stake, of which there may be several, have not been identified.

The 643m shares, listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange, were offered at a 3.4% discount（折扣） to the market price.

The sudden new supply weighed on（重压于，使苦恼） the Chinese company's share price, which ended the day down 3.8%.

The normal daily turnover²（营业额，颠覆） for China Mobile's shares is 21m, but Vodafone's disposal saw that figure spike³ to 740m.

Continued co-operation

The company says it intends to return some 70% of the net proceeds to shareholders⁴ by buying back shares.

The rest of the proceeds will be used to reduce the group's net debt.

Newbury-based Vodafone originally invested in China Mobile in 2000 and it says both companies will continue to cooperate in areas such as roaming, network roadmap development, multinational⁵ customers and green technology.

"Today's transaction achieves a near doubling of Vodafone's original investment in China Mobile and combines our stated portfolio⁶ strategy（投资组合战略） with ongoing⁷ co-operation with China's leading telecommunications company," said Vodafone's chief executive, Vittorio Colao.