Attendants stand in front of the logo of China Mobile at a venue for the launch of Xiaomi's new smartphone in Beijing. [Photo/Agencies]

China's largest telecom service provider, China Mobile Ltd, said its first-half net profit edged up 5.6 percent, its first interim profit rise in three years, as growth from lucrative 4G services helped it fend off stiff competition.

Beijing-based China Mobile said on Thursday net profit for the half rose to 60.6 billion yuan ($9.13 billion) from 57.3 billion yuan a year earlier. Revenue grew 7.1 percent to 370.4 billion yuan.

"China Mobile has focused its promotional efforts toward 4G upgrades and this campaign has successfully attracted a significant number of 2G/3G customers," Chairman Shang Bing said in the filing.

China Mobile's customers of the more lucrative 4G services more than doubled in the first half to 429 million from a year earlier.

Like smaller peers China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd and China Telecom Corp Ltd, China Mobile has faced a squeeze in recent years from internet-based messaging services like Tencent Holdings Ltd's WeChat, which ate into carriers' revenue from voice calls and short messages.

But analysts have said China Mobile enjoys first-mover advantage in money-spinning and fast-growing 4G services offering much faster data transmission speeds.

Reuters