LONDON, Nov 19, 2007 (AFP) - British mobile phone giant Vodafone wants to increase its presence in China, according to comments by chief executive Arun Sarin published in the Financial Times on Monday.

Vodafone currently owns about 3.0 percent of China Mobile -- which is the biggest mobile phone group in the world in terms of subscribers, and is the fourth biggest by stock market capitalisation.

Sarin told the FT that the stake, worth about 13 billion dollars (8.9 billion euros), was a "kitty" that could be used to take advantage of opportunities in China. He added that only 35 percent of the Chinese population has a mobile phone.

"From our shareholders' point of view, China is 35 percent penetrated, we have a long way to go," Sarin was quoted as saying.

"Would we like to participate in a bigger way? Of course we would like to participate in a bigger way."

The paper added that the Chinese government was planning a restructuring of the telecoms sector -- which could involve breaking up China Unicom, China Mobile's smaller rival, and could therefore boost competition.

The FT said that may reduce China Mobile's dominance in China, which is the world's largest mobile phone market.