As we know, China Unicom is expecting to offer its customers the new iPhone 4 at some point later this year, and now it appears that it has just comes a little closer to reality and we could see the iPhone 4 making its debut in China in the not too distant future.

According to an Owen Fletcher, report over on the Wall Street Journal, according to the China Telecommunications Equipment Certification Centre website, Apple has now been granted a China network access license for the iPhone 4.

Naturally when contacted, Beijing based Apple spokesperson Carolyn Wu declined to comment, as did Beijing based China Unicom spokesperson Wen Baoqiu.

So it’s another step forward into getting the latest Apple smartphone tech into the handset of the Chinese public and one large possible boost for the Apple coffers.