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1st LD-Writethru: China's 3 telecom operators announce new chairmen

Xinhua, August 24, 2015 Adjust font size:

China's three telecom service providers announced new chairs on Monday, at a time when the government is trying to increase Internet speed and lower prices for users.

Shang Bing, 60, replaces Xi Guohua as board chair of China Mobile, the world's largest telecom operator by subscribers.

Shang was previously senior manager for China Unicom and China Telecom before becoming Ministry of Industry and Information Technology vice head in 2011. Xi, 64, has now retired.

Wang Xiaochu, former chair of China Telecom, and Chang Xiaobing, former chair of China Unicom, have changed positions.

It is not unusual in China for industry regulators to head big state-owned companies. An executive swap is also common.

The three telecom giants raked in a total of 75.3 billion yuan (about 11.8 billion U.S. dollars) in the first half of 2015, thanks to an increase in 4G users. At the end of July, there were 250 million 4g users.

The government has asked the three companies to increase Internet speed and lower prices as China pushes ahead with "Internet Plus" campaign to integrate information technology with manufacturing and other traditional sectors. Endi