China Telecom, the smallest of the three telecom carriers in China, will adopt the board of directors system within the year, Sina Tech reported Wednesday, citing an unnamed source.

China Telecom's general manager Wang Xiaochu will be its board chairman, the source said.

It's been years since China's state-owned assets regulator started to reform state-owned enterprises (SOE) with a modern corporation structure. The other two telecom carriers – China Mobile and China Unicom – have already adopted the board of directors system.

China Unicom was the first to adopt the system – as soon as the company incorporated – because its establishment was initially funded by a dozen shareholders. China Mobile didn't set up a board of directors until June last year. Wang Jianzhou, the carrier's CEO became its first chairman of the board.

China's business press carried the story above on Wednesday.