China Unicom (0762.HK), China's No.2 mobile carrier, said it will sell handsets running Google's (GOOG.O) Android operating system, dispelling doubts raised after a dispute between Google and the Chinese government.

In January, Google postponed the launch of two Android-based mobile handsets in China, for which Unicom would have been the carrier. The delay followed a high-profile spat between Google and Beijing over a hacking incident and Google's unhappiness over having to self-censor its Web-based search results in China.

"We are open to mobile phone operating systems, and we recognize that Android is a mainstream system," Unicom Chairman Chang Xiaobing said on Wednesday on the sidelines of the opening of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in Beijing. "We will definitely use Google's Android in our mobile handsets," he said.

China's top mobile carrier, China Mobile (0941.HK), is also selling cellphones in China running the open-source Android operating system.

source:reuters