HONG KONG -- The total capital investment by three Chinese state telecom operators hit a peak last year, with the focus of cash distributions shifting further toward dividend payments at the urging of the government.
Capital expenditures in 2023 by the trio -- China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom -- and their jointly invested affiliate China Tower totaled 385 billion yuan ($53.3 billion), an increase of 2% compared with the year before. However, their combined capex plans for 2024 add up to about 366 billion yuan, a decline of 5%.
