.svg){kind=logo} | |||||||
 Headquarters in Beijing | |||||||
| Company type | Public;state-owned enterprise | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| ISIN | HK0941009539 | ||||||
| Industry | Telecommunications | ||||||
| Predecessor | China Telecom (Hong Kong) Limited[1] | ||||||
| Founded | 3 September 1997; 27 years ago (1997-09-03)[2] | ||||||
| Headquarters | Beijing,China Shanghai,China | ||||||
Area served | |||||||
Key people | Yang Jie (Chairman) | ||||||
| Services | |||||||
| Revenue |  CN¥812.0 billion (2022)[3] | ||||||
| CN¥129.0 billion (2022)[3] | |||||||
| CN¥125.6 billion (2022)[3] | |||||||
| Total assets | CN¥1.93 trillion (2022)[3] | ||||||
| Total equity | CN¥1.30 trillion (2022)[3] | ||||||
| Owner | Government of China (72.72%)[4]: 65 | ||||||
Number of employees | 450,698 (2022)[3] | ||||||
| Parent | China Mobile Communications Group | ||||||
| Subsidiaries |
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| ASNs | |||||||
| Traffic Levels | 5-10 Tbit/s[5] | ||||||
| Website | www www | ||||||
| Footnotes / references Source of the financial figures: theconsolidated financial statements[4] | |||||||
| China Mobile Limited | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simplified Chinese | 中国移动有限公司 | ||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 中國移動有限公司 | ||||||
| |||||||
| China Mobile Communications Group Co., Ltd. | |||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 中国移动通信集团有限公司 | ||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 中國移動通信集團有限公司 | ||||||
| |||||||
| Second alternative Chinese name | |||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 中国移动 | ||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 中國移動 | ||||||
| Literal meaning | China Mobile | ||||||
| |||||||
China Mobile is the trade name of bothChina Mobile Limited and its ultimate controlling shareholder,China Mobile Communications Group Co., Ltd., a Chinesestate-ownedtelecommunications[6] company. It provides mobile voice and multimedia services through its nationwidemobile telecommunications network acrossmainland China andHong Kong.[2] China Mobile is thelargest wireless carrier in China, with 945.50 million subscribers as of June 2021.[7] China Mobile was ranked #25 in Forbes' Global 2000 in 2023.[8]
China Mobile Limited is listed on theShanghai Stock Exchange and theHong Kong Stock Exchange.[2] It is theworld's largest mobile network operator by total number of subscribers,[9] and the world'slargest telecommunications company by revenue.
As of 31 October 2020[update], China Mobile Limited's totalmarket value stood at HK$965 billion, which is the largestred chip company.[10]
Incorporated in 1997 as China Telecom (Hong Kong) Limited,[1] China Mobile was born from the 1999 break-up ofChina Telecommunications Corporation.[11] This company continues to provide mobile services, however.[12]
In May 2008, the company took overChina Tietong, a fixed-line telecom[13] and the then third-largest broadbandISP in China[14] 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.[15]
China Mobile is among the state entities which contribute to theChina Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund, which was established in an effort to decrease China's reliance on foreignsemiconductor companies.[16]: 274 The fund was established in 2014.[16]: 274
In December 2021, China Mobile announced that its international arm would cease operations in Canada due to national security concerns by the Canadian government.[17]
In November 2020, PresidentDonald Trump issued anexecutive 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.[18][19][20] 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.[21] On 4 January the decision to delist was suddenly reversed; two days later, the NYSE said that the delistings would proceed.[22] In the aftermath of the delisting, the company announced its decision to raise up to US$8.8 billion ahead of theShanghai stock exchange listing, according to an officialWeibo post by the company.[23]
In March 2022, theFederal Communications Commission designated China Mobile's U.S. subsidiary, China Mobile International USA, a national security threat.[24] In March 2025, theUnited 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.[25][26]
China Mobile has faced criticism for continuing its operations in Russia despite the international sanctions imposed on the country following its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The company's decision aligns with the broader trend of major Chinese firms maintaining business as usual in Russia, as noted by monitoring projects such asYale's CELI list and theKSE Institute's "Leave Russia" project.[27][28][29] Critics argue that this approach undermines global efforts to isolate Russia economically and politically for its actions in Ukraine. Furthermore, concerns have been raised regarding China Mobile's connections to state-owned entities and its role in facilitating cooperation between China and Russia in the telecommunications and media sectors. Such collaborations have been implicated in supporting disinformation campaigns and propaganda, further complicating China Mobile's controversial position in the international arena.[27][30][31] International authorities and digital security experts have raised concerns about the widespread use of Hikvision and Dahua (of which China Mobile is a significant shareholder)[30] surveillance cameras. According toUkraine's State Security Service (SBU), hacked cameras have been used to gather intelligence on critical infrastructure and military movements, posing risks during the ongoing conflict with Russia. For instance, in a missile attack on Kyiv on January 2, 2024, two compromised outdoor cameras were allegedly used to guide the strikes.[30]
Astate-owned enterprise directly controlled by the government of the People's Republic of China[6] and also a public company which is listed on the NYSE and the Hong Kong stock exchanges,[2] China Mobile has dominatedChinese mobile services since its inception for civilian and military purposes. According to theUnited States Department of Defense, the company has links to thePeople's Liberation Army.[32] As of 2010[update], China Mobile controls the vast majority of its domestic mobile services market with a 70% market share.[12]China Unicom andChina Telecom have 20% and 10% shares, respectively.[12]
The company likely enjoys substantialprotectionist benefits from China's government[33] but also experiences frequent government intervention in its business affairs.[34] 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,[35] which in turn holds over seventy percent ownership of China Mobile–the remainder being controlled by public investors.[2] Established in 2000,[35] CMCC is China Mobile Ltd's current parent company as of 2019[update].[4]
China Mobile is one of the "core" central SOEs overseen byState-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC).[36]: 10
China Mobile was one of six state-owned companies that implemented the Connecting Every Village Project, which theMinistry of Industry and Information Technology began in 2004 to promote universal access totelecommunication andinternet services inrural China.[38]: 24–25 The MIIT required that China Mobile and the other state-owned companies build the communications infrastructure and assist in financing the project.[38]: 25 As of December 2019,[update] 135 million rural households had used broadband internet.[38]: 25 The program successfully extended internet infrastructure throughout rural China and promoted development of the internet.[38]: 25
China Mobile has historically held a greater share of the rural market than competitors.[39] By 2006, its network had expanded to provide reception to 97% of the Chinese population,[40] and the company has since seen a sustained stream of new, rural mobile customers.[39]
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.[41]
The company branched out in 2007 with the purchase ofPaktel in Pakistan[42] launching theZong brand there a year later.[43]
In 2013, China Mobile eyed expansion intoMyanmar expressing interest in bidding for one of two licences on offer in a partnership withVodafone although this plan ultimately fell through.[44]
In 2023, China Mobile'sdigital wallet users were able to make payments by scanningWeChatQR codes as part of a program to remove barriers between theecosystems of technology companies inChina.[45]
Mobile services are available inMainland China under several brands as of 2007.[46] As of 2013[update], the below brands are scheduled to be slowly phased out and replaced by an all-encompassing new brand name—And[47]—whose logo combines an exclamation point, the Chinese character for "peace" (和;Hé), as well as the English word "and".[48]
(Chinese:全球通; pinyin:Quánqiútōng Rough translation: "Global Connect"): subscription[49] flagship brand[50]
(Chinese:动感地带; pinyin:Dònggǎndìdài Rough translation: "Dynamic Area"): a premium prepaid service popular with youths[50]
(Chinese:神州行; pinyin:Shénzhōuxíng Rough translation: "Travel across China"[49] (lit. "travel the holy states")): a basicprepaid mobile phone service more heavily marketed in rural areas[40]
A 3G service brand usingTD-SCDMA[48] (likely introduced post-2007)
A 4G/LTE service brand usingTD-LTE
CMHK is a wholly owned subsidiary of China Mobile. It offersGSM,GPRS,EDGE,HSPA+ (MVNO),FD-LTE andTD-LTE technologies to customers in this theHong Kong Special Administrative Region.[51]
Zong is China Mobile's brand in Pakistan and is operated by China Mobile Pakistan (CMPak), a subsidiary.[43]
In December 2017, China Mobile launched aMVNO 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.[52]
In June 2020, China Mobile launched aMVNO 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.[52]
China Mobile operates aGSM network,[53] which encompasses all 31 provinces, autonomous regions, and directly administered municipalities in mainland China and includes Hong Kong, too.[2]GPRS is utilized for data transmission.[54]
Marketed as "G3", the company controls 70% of the Chinese mobile market but a far smaller percentage of the3G market.[12] As of May 2012[update], its nearly 60 million 3G subscribers account for roughly 9% of its total subscriber base,[55] which is an increase from 3% in 2010.[12]
Its 3G network, still under construction in 2010, utilizes theTD-SCDMA standard, which China Mobile helped develop. 3G service is available in all of the 4direct-controlled municipalities and most of the 283prefecture-level cities in China as of 2010[update].[56]
Marketed as "and和", as of 2010, China Mobile has debuted small-scale 4G demonstration networks using a variant of3GPP'sLong Term Evolution, TD-LTE, and has plans for larger, citywide demonstration networks in the future.[56] As of May 2012[update], such networks are in operation.[55]
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 4GiPhone (iPhone 5) began in mid-2012.[55] TheiPhone 5c andiPhone 5s were sold through China Mobile starting in January 2014.[57]
China Mobile is developing a 5G service. As part of this development, Huawei has been awarded 52 percent of 5G contracts in 2023 (estimated at 45,426 base stations).[58]
In 2003 and again in 2007, China Mobile provided mobile services onMount Everest.[59]
In May 2011, China Mobile announced its network now includes the controversialSpratly Islands.[60]
