The third generation mobile telecommunication technology, or 3G, will generate investment and consumption worth 1 trillion yuan (US$146.27 billion) on the Chinese mainland in the next three years, with consumer spending on 3G terminals expected to reach 400 billion yuan, said an official with the country's telecom industry regulator.

Chinese telecom operators will invest another 400 billion yuan into network construction, Zhao Bo, an official with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, was quoted by today's China Securities Journal as saying.

The 3G audio-visual services will create consumption worth between 100 billion and 200 billion yuan, he added.

Industry statistics show the mobile phone market is declining globally, with emerging markets like China and India helping to boost the growth of global handset makers.

Statistics from iSuppli, an industry consulting firm, show that China's mobile phone sales amounted to 58 million units in the first quarter of this year, up 9 percent from the last quarter of 2008. It predicts that sales of mobile phones in the mainland will grow 7.8 percent to 238 million units in 2009.

iSuppli also forecasts global cell phone shipments to drop to 1.1 billion units this year from 1.2 billion units in 2008.

(chinadaily.com.cn June 9, 2009)