China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd.'s (CHU) parent company received support from "relevant parties" before launching a new policy on Apple Inc. (AAPL) iPhone handsets offered by China Unicom, it said in a statement Friday, without specifying the parties.

Under the policy, users of iPhones from China Unicom could have the handset locked and their bundled Unicom phone number suspended if the company discovers the two are being used separately, China United Network Communications Group Co. said earlier this week. The policy aims to prevent the resale of iPhone handsets that has "severely disrupted" market order, it said.

Friday's statement comes after Xinhua News Agency late Thursday cited an unnamed official in the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology as saying China Unicom's parent should respect and protect the rights and interests of users and improve its service quality, and the new iPhone policy has "drawn society's wide attention."

China United Network Communications Group said most new users supported the policy, which took effect Dec. 1, and the policy hadn't influenced growth in users of the iPhone or of Unicom's third-generation mobile services.

Apple didn't immediately reply to a request for comment.

-By Owen Fletcher, Dow Jones Newswires; 8610 8400 7702; owen.fletcher@dowjones.com
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