July 22 -- The telecommunications sector recorded a 10.1 percent year-on-year growth in revenue in the first half of 2011, exceeding the gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate for the first time since the outbreak of the financial crisis, reports China Securities Journal, citing the director of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's communications department, expand »Zhang Feng, on July 21.

According to Zhang, increases in the per capita income of urban and rural residents in the first half by 7.5 percent and 13.7 percent respectively had led to increased spending on telecommunications services.

Investment in information network infrastructure totaled 143.1 billion yuan in the first half, up 56.5 percent year-on-year.

Non-voice services registered a 17.2 percent year-on-year rise in revenue growth to 221.3 billion yuan in the first half, while the number of new users of mobile phones and broadband services hit 61.54 million and 15.48 million, added Zhang.

Shares of Sichuan Huiyuan Optical Communications (000586) surged to its intraday maximum of 10.68 yuan at 10:18 today.

Source:CapitalVue