China Mobile
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox company Template:Infobox Chinese
China Mobile is the trade name of both China Mobile Limited and its ultimate controlling shareholder, China Mobile Communications Group Co., Ltd., a Chinese state-owned telecommunications<ref name="Economist">Strait deals The Economist, 7 May 2009</ref> company. It provides mobile voice and multimedia services through its nationwide mobile telecommunications network across mainland China and Hong Kong.<ref name="CM1" /> China Mobile is the largest wireless carrier in China, with 945.50 million subscribers as of June 2021.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> China Mobile was ranked #25 in Forbes' Global 2000 in 2023.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
China Mobile Limited is listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange as A-shares and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange as H shares.<ref name="CM1">Overview Template:Webarchive China Mobile Limited Official Site</ref> It is the world's largest mobile network operator by total number of subscribers,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue.
Template:As of, China Mobile Limited's total market value stood at US$240 billion.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
History
Incorporated in 1997 as China Telecom (Hong Kong) Limited,<ref name="mile">Milestone Template:Webarchive China Mobile Official Site</ref> China Mobile was born from the 1999 break-up of China Telecommunications Corporation.<ref>Asian economic and political issues, Volume 8 (page 68) Template:Webarchive Frank Columbus, Nova Publishers, 2003 (Google Books)</ref> This company continues to provide mobile services, however.<ref name=morning/>
In May 2008, the company took over China Tietong, a fixed-line telecom<ref name="Epre">Telecoms in China The Economist, 29 May 2008</ref> and the then third-largest broadband ISP in China<ref>China Mobile to take over China Tietong TelecomTemplate:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore</ref> adding Internet services to its core business of mobile services.
In October 2014, Nokia and China Mobile signed a $970 million framework deal for delivery between 2014 and 2015.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>
China Mobile is among the state entities which contribute to the China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund, which was established in an effort to decrease China's reliance on foreign semiconductor companies.<ref name=":Zhang">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp The fund was established in 2014.<ref name=":Zhang" />Template:Rp
In December 2021, China Mobile announced that its international arm would cease operations in Canada due to national security concerns by the Canadian government.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
U.S. sanctions
In November 2020, President Donald Trump issued an executive order prohibiting any American company or individual from owning shares in companies that the United States Department of Defense has listed as having links to the People's Liberation Army, which included China Mobile.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On 31 December 2020, the New York Stock Exchange announced that it would suspend trading in China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom from 7 to 11 January 2021 and start the delisting process, causing stock values to drop.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On 4 January the decision to delist was suddenly reversed; two days later, the NYSE said that the delistings would proceed.<ref name="leosun">Template:Cite web</ref> In the aftermath of the delisting, the company announced its decision to raise up to US$8.8 billion ahead of the Shanghai stock exchange listing, according to an official Weibo post by the company.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In March 2022, the Federal Communications Commission designated China Mobile's U.S. subsidiary, China Mobile International USA, a national security threat.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In March 2025, the United States House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party initiated an inquiry into China Mobile and issued subpoenas for company records in April 2025 over security concerns.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In June 2025, the FCC stated that China Mobile had failed to cooperate with its probe to determine whether it had evaded sanctions.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Operations in Russia
China Mobile has, like other major Chinese firms, maintained business in Russia amid the ongoing international sanctions during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It is also alleged to have supported Russian propaganda during the invasion.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
According to Ukraine's State Security Service (SBU), Hikvision and Dahua (of which China Mobile is a shareholder) hacked surveillance cameras have been used to gather intelligence on critical infrastructure and military movements such as during the 2 January 2024 Russian strikes in Kyiv, where two compromised outdoor cameras are said to have been used to guide the strikes.<ref name=":2">Template:Cite news</ref>
Ownership and control
A state-owned enterprise directly controlled by the government of the People's Republic of China<ref name="Economist" /> and also a public company which is listed on the NYSE and the Hong Kong stock exchanges,<ref name="CM1" /> China Mobile has dominated Chinese mobile services since its inception for civilian and military purposes. According to the United States Department of Defense, the company has links to the People's Liberation Army.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Template:As of, China Mobile controls the vast majority of its domestic mobile services market with a 70% market share.<ref name="morning" /> China Unicom and China Telecom have 20% and 10% shares, respectively.<ref name="morning" />
The company likely enjoys substantial protectionist benefits from China's government<ref>Asian Economic and Political Issues, Volume 8 (page 54) Template:Webarchive 2003. Frank Columbus. Nova Publishers. (Google Books)</ref> but also experiences frequent government intervention in its business affairs.<ref name="Asian Econ and Polit Issues">Asian Economic and Political Issues, Volume 8 (page 84) Template:Webarchive 2003. Frank Columbus. Nova Publishers. (Google Books)</ref> Government control is maintained through a presumably government-owned holding company, China Mobile Communications Group Co., Ltd. (formerly: China Mobile Communications Corporation; CMCC), that owns 100 percent ownership of China Mobile (HK) Group Limited,<ref name="gov control">CMCC Profile CMCC Official Site (Archive.org cache)</ref> which in turn holds over seventy percent ownership of China Mobile–the remainder being controlled by public investors.<ref name="CM1" /> Established in 2000,<ref name="gov control" /> CMCC is China Mobile Ltd's current parent company Template:As of.<ref name="AR2019" />
China Mobile is one of the "core" central SOEs overseen by State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC).<ref name=":12">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp
Finances
The key trends for China Mobile are (as of the financial year ending December 31):<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
| Revenue (HKD billions) |
Net income (HKD billions) |
Total assets (HKD billions) |
Employees (thousands) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 873 | 140 | 1,752 | 459 |
| 2019 | 846 | 121 | 1,822 | 456 |
| 2020 | 863 | 121 | 2,049 | 454 |
| 2021 | 1,022 | 140 | 2,252 | 450 |
| 2022 | 1,090 | 146 | 2,173 | 451 |
| 2023 | 1,115 | 146 | 2,193 | 452 |
| 2024 | 1,128 | 150 | 2,243 | 455 |
Services
Rural services
China Mobile was one of six state-owned companies that implemented the Connecting Every Village Project, which the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology began in 2004 to promote universal access to telecommunication and internet services in rural China.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp The MIIT required that China Mobile and the other state-owned companies build the communications infrastructure and assist in financing the project.<ref name=":1" />Template:Rp Template:As of 135 million rural households had used broadband internet.<ref name=":1" />Template:Rp The program successfully extended internet infrastructure throughout rural China and promoted development of the internet.<ref name=":1" />Template:Rp
China Mobile has historically held a greater share of the rural market than competitors.<ref name="BW China Mobile Leads">"Chinese Telecom: China Mobile Leads the Way" Template:Webarchive. Bloomberg BusinessWeek. 5 August 2009</ref> By 2006, its network had expanded to provide reception to 97% of the Chinese population,<ref name="CMCC Business Review">Homepage > Brand & Products > Business Review Template:Webarchive CMCC Official Site</ref> and the company has since seen a sustained stream of new, rural mobile customers.<ref name="BW China Mobile Leads" />
It also offers services targeted at the rural market including an agricultural information service, which facilitates a variety of activities such as the sale and purchase of agricultural products, access to market prices for produce and crops, wire transfers, bank withdrawals, and payments, etc.<ref name="CMCC 2008 CSR">2008 Corporate Social Responsibility Report – Rural Program Template:Webarchive CMCC Official Site</ref>
Overseas activities
The company branched out in 2007 with the purchase of Paktel in Pakistan<ref name="CMCC News Paki">CMCC Officially Enter Pakistani Telecommunication Market, 25 March 2007 Template:Webarchive CMCC Official Site</ref> launching the Zong brand there a year later.<ref name="CMCC News ZONG">ZoNG the first international brand of China Mobile being launched in Pakistan, 5 April 2008 Template:Webarchive CMCC Official Site</ref>
In 2013, China Mobile eyed expansion into Myanmar expressing interest in bidding for one of two licences on offer in a partnership with Vodafone although this plan ultimately fell through.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Digital barrier removal
In 2023, China Mobile's digital wallet users were able to make payments by scanning WeChat QR codes as part of a program to remove barriers between the ecosystems of technology companies in China.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Brands
Mainland China
Mobile services are available in Mainland China under several brands as of 2007.<ref>Template:Cite web (Archive.org cache)</ref> Template:As of, the below brands are scheduled to be slowly phased out and replaced by an all-encompassing new brand name—And<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>—whose logo combines an exclamation point, the Chinese character for "peace" (Template:Zh), as well as the English word "and".<ref name="G3" />
- GoTone
(Template:Zh Rough translation: "Global Connect"): subscription<ref name="translator">Template:Cite conference</ref> flagship brand<ref name="CMCC Brand Splash">Homepage > Brand & Products > Our Brands CMCC Official Site (Archive.org cache)</ref>
- M-zone
(Template:Zh Rough translation: "Dynamic Area"): a premium prepaid service popular with youths<ref name="CMCC Brand Splash" />
- Easyown
(Template:Zh Rough translation: "Travel across China"<ref name=translator/> (lit. "travel the holy states")): a basic prepaid mobile phone service more heavily marketed in rural areas<ref name="CMCC Business Review" />
- G3
A 3G service brand using TD-SCDMA<ref name="G3">Template:Cite web</ref> (likely introduced post-2007)
- and!和
A 4G/LTE service brand using TD-LTE
Hong Kong
CMHK is a wholly owned subsidiary of China Mobile. It offers GSM, GPRS, EDGE, HSPA+ (MVNO), FD-LTE and TD-LTE technologies to customers in this the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Pakistan
Template:MainZong is China Mobile's brand in Pakistan and is operated by China Mobile Pakistan (CMPak), a subsidiary.<ref name="CMCC News ZONG" />
United Kingdom
In December 2017, China Mobile launched a MVNO service in the UK called CMLink. CMLink is aimed at the Chinese population living in the UK and Chinese visitors and students. Plans include free calls to China Mobile phones in China.<ref name="silicon.co.uk">Template:Cite web</ref>
Singapore
In June 2020, China Mobile launched a MVNO service called CMLink. It uses Singtel networks, which is one of Singapore's largest mobile network operator.
CMLink is aimed at the Chinese population living in the Singapore and Chinese visitors and students. Plans include free calls to China Mobile phones in China.<ref name="silicon.co.uk"/>
Network
China Mobile operates a GSM network,<ref name="CMCC News BO">Beijing Olympic Games spur another technological leap forward Template:Webarchive China Mobile, 18 Aug 2008</ref> which encompasses all 31 provinces, autonomous regions, and directly administered municipalities in mainland China and includes Hong Kong, too.<ref name=CM1/> GPRS is utilized for data transmission.<ref name="CMCC Network">Networks & Technologies Template:Webarchive China Mobile</ref>
- 3G
Marketed as "G3", the company controls 70% of the Chinese mobile market but a far smaller percentage of the 3G market.<ref name=morning/> Template:As of, its nearly 60 million 3G subscribers account for roughly 9% of its total subscriber base,<ref name=td-lte/> which is an increase from 3% in 2010.<ref name="morning">China Mobile Still Dominates, but Faces Competition in 3G. morningstar.com, 22 October 2010</ref>
Its 3G network, still under construction in 2010, utilizes the TD-SCDMA standard, which China Mobile helped develop. 3G service is available in all of the 4 direct-controlled municipalities and most of the 283 prefecture-level cities in China Template:As of.<ref name=2010rep/>
- 4G
Marketed as "and和", as of 2010, China Mobile has debuted small-scale 4G demonstration networks using a variant of 3GPP's Long Term Evolution, TD-LTE, and has plans for larger, citywide demonstration networks in the future.<ref name="2010rep">Template:Cite conference</ref> Template:As of, such networks are in operation.<ref name=td-lte/>
While prior iPhone models could not use the China Mobile network due to the chipset relying on WCDMA-based networks, talks to carry the then unreleased 4G iPhone (iPhone 5) began in mid-2012.<ref name=td-lte>Template:Cite news</ref> The iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s were sold through China Mobile starting in January 2014.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- 5G
China Mobile is developing a 5G service marketed as 5G++. As part of this development, Huawei has been awarded 52 percent of 5G contracts in 2023 (estimated at 45,426 base stations).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Everest
In 2003 and again in 2007, China Mobile provided mobile services on Mount Everest.<ref>For 2003 service, see Everest goes online for anniversary Mary Hennock, bbc.co.uk, Wednesday, 23 April 2003, 04:23 GMT 05:23 UK
- For 2007 service, see China tests Mt. Everest cell station NBC News.msn.com, 13 November 2007 8:09:24 PM ET</ref>
- Spratly Isles coverage
In May 2011, China Mobile announced its network now includes the controversial Spratly Islands.<ref>Ian Mansfield, 18 May 2011, China Mobile Expands Coverage to the Spratly Islands Template:Webarchive, Cellular News</ref>
See also
- List of largest companies by revenue
- List of mobile network operators
- List of mobile network operators of the Americas
- List of mobile network operators of the Asia Pacific region
- List of mobile network operators of the Middle East and Africa
References
<references />
External links
Template:Telecommunications in the People's Republic of China Template:Navboxes
- Pages with broken file links
- China Mobile
- 1997 establishments in China
- Companies based in Shanghai
- Chinese brands
- Telecommunications companies established in 1997
- Companies listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange
- Companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange
- Companies in the S&P Asia 50
- Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange
- Government-owned companies of China
- Internet service providers of China
- Defence companies of the People's Republic of China
- Government-owned telecommunications companies