China Mobile said its first half results “affirm that we are indeed pursuing the correct strategy”, despite what it described as “an increasing swell of challenges”.

In a statement, it said that wireless data traffic revenue has, for the first time, exceeded its traditional business, and is now the biggest revenue source for the company (it accounts for 43.3 per cent of total telecommunications service sales).

The company said it had made steady progress in the 4G, data traffic, wireline broadband and digital services business lines. A downward trend in revenue growth has been corrected it said, and China Mobile has “once again beaten the average industry growth”.

The news comes shortly after China Unicom, the second largest operator in the country, warned that it expects its profits to drop due to increased costs.

China Mobile also said it had maintained its 4G leadership and, “of particular note”, was its launch of its “high quality 4G premium network” ahead of its peers. It added more than 200,000 4G base stations to take its total to 1.32 million, with an expansion to improve indoor coverage.

Its 4G proposition has also been enhanced by the launch of VoLTE and LTE carrier aggregation, which are both available in more than 300 cities.

In the first half of the year, the monthly average net increase in 4G customers was over 19 million, taking its total to 429 million. Its total mobile customer base of 837 million was up by 2.4 per cent.

Of course, there were some caveats. China Mobile said it “cannot rest on our laurels” as it expects to see increased 4G competition from its rivals, who are collaborating in network expansion and increasing marketing efforts.

And the expansion of internet companies into the communications market and new regulatory policies are also providing challenges.

“As we have always done, we will take a level-headed approach to market competition. We truly believe that reasonable competition benefits the wider development of the industry, and that the sustainable growth of individual companies relies on the health of the whole,” Shang Bing, chairman, said in a statement.

For the six months, profit attributable to shareholders increased 5.6 per cent to CNY60.6 billion ($9.1 billion), on revenue of CNY370.4 billion, up 7.1 per cent.