BEIJING, May 24 -- China Mobile Ltd, the country's largest mobile phone operator, saw the number of its 3G service subscribers increase by 700,000 to 8.4 million in April, sources reported.

The company's total mobile subscribers hit 544.2 million, added 5.3 million new users in April.

China Mobile last week announced that it sees more than double the number of its 3G base stations to 200,000 this year in a push to expand its TD-SCDMA coverage nationwide.

China Mobile's net profit in the first quarter of the year was RMB 25.2 billion, 1.1% more than a year earlier. Revenue for the first three months grew 7.7% from a year earlier to RMB 109.09 billion.