Profits rise 51% at China Mobile

China's mobile phone market is the biggest in the world

China Mobile, the world's largest mobile phone network, has reported a 51% rise in quarterly profit, driven by strong subscriber growth.

The firm's net profit for the three months to the end of June totalled 30.7bn yuan ($4.48bn; £2.4bn), compared with 20.34bn yuan a year earlier.

Western analysts said the results beat expectations, but noted that the firm would soon face higher competition.

Back in May, Beijing announced plans to allow more mobile phone operators.

Rural areas

China's Mobile's profit for the first-half of the year totalled 54.8bn yuan, beating forecasts of 52.49bn.

It added 45.25 million new subscribers, bringing to total to 415 million.

However, the speed of new subscriptions may now be slowing, as it added just 7.65 million new customers in July, down 11% from June.

With mobile phone use in China's main cities now at saturation point, China Mobile is continuing to target new customers in rural areas.

China is the world's largest mobile market with about 520 million mobile phone users. The number could reach 600 million by 2010, according to the government.