After India launch and Russia plans; iPhone 3G would soon make it to China aswell. China’s biggest operator ‘China Mobile’ is believed to have cracked a deal with Apple. Though the iPhone is considered to be expensive (unsubsidized) for the masses in china, the operator plans to subsudize it (after procuring it for full price from Apple).
Previous talks between Apple and ‘China Mobile’ collapsed as Apple demanded a share of revenues from Telecom companies in all deals for the 1st Gen iPhone. However with the iPhone 3G, they have given up the revenue sharing system. This means that any carrier across the globe (including ATnT) needs to pay Apple its full price for the iPhone 3G. They may subsidise it later themselves.