3G iPad 2 Approved for Sale in China

The 3G version of Apple’s iPad 2 is finally headed to mainland China — just in time for the opening of the company’s new store in Hong Kong’s International Finance Center mall. On Monday, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology certified a new 3G-capable Apple device with the product ID number “A1396” — the same one borne by the 3G iPad 2, granting it the network access license needed for Apple to begin selling it in the country, with China Unicom as its likely carrier partner. Separately, the 3G iPad 2 appeared briefly on Apple’s Chinese Web site, listed as shipping “within two to three weeks.”