China Unicom Ltd. (CHU) Chief Executive Chang Xiaobing said Wednesday the company is in talks with Apple Inc. (AAPL) about introducing the iPhone in China, but didn't give details on progress of the talks.

Chang said third-generation mobile-phone customers will likely make up 20% of China's total mobile-phone users, similar to the 3G penetration levels in advanced countries.

China Unicom's 3G users will likely account for 20% of its total subscribers in two to three years, he added.

Chang was speaking on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. The CPPCC started its annual meeting Tuesday.

-By Aaron Back; Dow Jones Newswires; 8610 6588 5848; aaron.back@dowjones.com