BEIJING - China Mobile, China's leading telecom services provider, reported higher profit growth on Thursday for the first half of this year.

Profits attributable to equity shareholders rose 3.5 percent year on year to 62.7 billion yuan (about $9.4 billion) in the first half, according to a company statement.

The growth was higher than the 0.2-percent increase in profits last year. Boosted by the announcement, the company's shares listed in Hong Kong rose 2.78 percent on Thursday.

Operating revenue in the first half reached 388.9 billion yuan, up 5 percent year on year, the company said.

Revenue from telecom services climbed 6.9 percent from a year earlier, with the growth rate higher than the industrial average.

Revenue from wireless data traffic reached 187.7 billion yuan, accounting for more than half of telecom services revenue, according to the company.

It now has the world's largest 4G network using the homegrown TD-LTE standard, with a total of 1.65 million 4G stations by the end of June.

The company saw its 4G users reach 594 million by the end of June, up 58.6 million from six months earlier.

"Out of every three 4G users in the world, there is one China Mobile customer," the company said, noting that it is on track to achieve a net annual increase of 100 million 4G users this year.

The company also posted solid growth in its Internet of Things service, with the total number of smart connections exceeding 150 million by the end of the first half.

The Internet of Things platform, together with its use in areas including industrial manufacturing, smart wearables, education, healthcare and municipal administration, has long-term growth potential, the company said.

It has started to build its mobile Internet of Things network in 346 cities across China and aims to add 100 million smart connections for the full year of 2017.

In the future, the company will upgrade its network to make it more based on big data and artificial intelligence, it said.

Field tests for 5G will begin this year, the company noted.

It said it will respond quickly to capture the opportunities brought by a new wave of information technology revolution and industry reform.

"We will now strive to become the leading operator in digital service innovation in the world," China Mobile chairman Shang Bing said in the statement.

China Mobile had 867 million mobile users as of the end of June, according to the statement.