China's Ministry of Information Industry (MII) has for the first time projected telecommunications revenue to grow by less than 10 per cent for this year.
Minister Wu Jichuan on Monday laid out the target of a 9.5 per cent growth in telecom revenue to 451 billion yuan (about HK$424.93 billion) for the full year, against a 14.41 per cent increase last year.
The net increases in both fixed-line and cellular subscriber numbers are expected to slow for the first time. Mr Wu expects China to add 33 million new fixed-line users this year, compared with 34.05 million last year.
Mobile subscriber growth is expected to register a bigger slowdown, with 52 million new users to be gained this year, according to the MII.
Last year, China added 61.39 million new mobile users to bring the total to 214.41 million.
Mr Wu announced the renewed projections at the MII's national conference.
The MII forecasts imply a tougher year ahead for China's six network operators.