(Yicai Global) Dec. 28 -- China United Network Communications Group Co., one of the country's big three telecoms operators and better known as China Unicom, will cull more than half of its head office staff as it looks to streamline operations under its mixed-ownership reform.

Its headquarters will ditch nine of its 27 departments and let go 922 of its 1,787 staff, state-backed news outlet The Paper reported. The company will also close 205 provincial-level offices (20.5 percent) and 2,013 of its county-level offices (26.7 percent), and lay off 415 provincial managers (9.8 percent), 73 county managers (4.2 percent) and 342 regional head office managers (15.5 percent).

The move is the first phase of the mixed-ownership reform program, China Unicom said. It plans to keep optimizing its organizational structure and will begin shedding members from its party committee every year, it added.

China Unicom is the first state-owned enterprise with central government backing to pilot a mixed-ownership reform. It is tasked with exploring best practices to drive similar programs and the layoffs make up 92 percent of the overall workload, Chairman Wang Xiaochu said in a public statement.

The firm announced the reform, which involved a CNY78-billion (USD12-billion) cash injection, on Aug. 20. After its completion, the new strategic investors will hold a combined 35.19-percent stake in China Unicom's A-share listed arm, while its parents holding will fall to 36.7 percent from 63.7 percent.