The combined telecommunications industrial revenue in China rose 8.1 percent year on year to over 1.35 trillion yuan (US$212 billion) in the January-November period, registering robust growth.
According to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China's three telecom giants - China Telecom, China Mobile, and China Unicom - had over 1.64 billion mobile phone users, a net increase of 47.92 million users by the end of November, compared with the end of last year.
The number of 5G mobile subscribers reached 497 million, up 298 million from the end of last year, according to the ministry.
Chinese official media reported that the three telecom companies also saw a steady increase in the number of fixed broadband internet users by the end of November, with subscribers rising by 51.85 million from the end of last year to stand at 535 million.
Meanwhile, a report by ResearchAndMarkets.com said that the Chinese telecommunications industry remains steady thanks to the defensiveness nature of the industry, amid the political uncertainties and an uncertain economic outlook due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The publisher forecasts that mobile subscriptions and fixed broadband subscribers will continue to fuel the telecoms sector growth in the 2022-27 period. More than 380m people became Internet users over the last seven years and another 380m more Internet users are expected to come online over the next six years by 2027.