To the Shareholders of
China Telecom Corporation Limited
(Incorporated in The People’s Republic of China with limited liability)
We have audited the consolidated financial statements of China Telecom Corporation Limited (“the Company”) and its subsidiaries (together “the Group”) set out on pages 90 to 146, which comprise the consolidated and company statements of financial position as at 31 December 2010, and the consolidated statement of comprehensive income, the consolidated statement of changes in equity and the consolidated statement of cash flows for the year then ended, and a summary of significant accounting policies and other explanatory information.
Directors’ responsibility for the consolidated financial statements
The directors of the Company are responsible for the preparation of consolidated financial statements that give a true and fair view in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board and the disclosure requirements of the Hong Kong Companies Ordinance, and for such internal control as the directors determine is necessary to enable the preparation of consolidated financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
Auditor’s responsibility
Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these consolidated financial statements based on our audit. This report is made solely to you, as a body, and for no other purpose. We do not assume responsibility towards or accept liability to any other person for the contents of the report.
We conducted our audit in accordance with Hong Kong Standards on Auditing issued by the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Those standards require that we comply with ethical requirements and plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements are free from material misstatement.
An audit involves performing procedures to obtain audit evidence about the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements. The procedures selected depend on the auditor’s judgement, including the assessment of the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements, whether due to fraud or error. In making those risk assessments, the auditor considers internal control relevant to the entity’s preparation of the consolidated financial statements that give a true and fair view in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the entity’s internal control. An audit also includes evaluating the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates made by the directors, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements.
We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our audit opinion.
Opinion
In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Company and of the Group as at 31 December 2010 and of the Group’s profit and cash flows for the year then ended in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board and the disclosure requirements of the Hong Kong Companies Ordinance.
KPMG
Certified Public Accountants
8th Floor, Prince’s Building
10 Chater Road
Central, Hong Kong
22 March 2011