China’s leading mobile operator, China Mobile, announced Wednesday a 25.5 per cent increase in net profit for the first half of 2006 to reach RMB30bn (£1.9bn). Operating revenue for the six month period also increased 19.6 per cent year on year from RMB114bn to RMB137bn on the back of strong subscriber growth.

China Mobile’s GSM subscriber base increased 22.3 per cent year on year to top 274.7 million at the end of June.

Although the Chinese operator, which has been the world’s biggest cellco by customer numbers for some time, earlier this month unseated Vodafone as the most valuable mobile operator.

China Mobile, officially formed on April 20, 2000, now commands a market value of around £69.6bnm while Vodafone, officially formed in 1982, dropped behind at £64bn.