BEIJING - China Unicom, one of the country's leading telecommunications carriers, said Thursday it will begin selling Apple's iPhone 4S on the Chinese mainland starting January 13.

The iPhone 4S will be available for buyers on the mainland at China Unicom outlets and online stores, China Unicom said in a statement on its website.

To obtain an iPhone 4S from China Unicom, customers will need to sign three-year or two-year mobile phone service contracts and make a down payment, according to China Unicom.

However, Chinese customers have to pay much higher prices to get an iPhone 4S, compared to customers in the United States.

"The customer response to our products in China has been off the charts," Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, said in a statement on the company's website.

The share price of dual-listed China Unicom fell 1.57 percent to close at 5.02 yuan per share in Shanghai, but picked up 0.36 percent to reach 16.64 HK dollars (about $2.15) in Hong Kong.