Minister to continue price cuts on China mobile phone plans

China is to cut mobile plan prices by a third before the end of next year, said an official from industry regulator.

"The telecom carriers are working hard on lowering the prices of mobile plans while lifting connection speeds," said Miao Wei, a chief at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology who spoke at the opening ceremony of a communications expo in Beijing on Tuesday..

"We will continue to push price cuts because affordable mobile Internet service benefits the country's startup sector," said Miao.

The ministry urged the "Big Three" State-owned carriers to cut Internet charges earlier this year after Premier Li Keqiang slapped on the hovering 4G fees and slow connection speed.

Miao pledged to speed up the construction of 4G networks in less-developed rural areas to expand 4G coverage.

China has more than 250 million fourth-generation telecom network users, representing a quarter of its total mobile phone user population, according to the ministry.

From January to July, revenue of the telecom-related businesses surged to 1.25 trillion yuan ($195.9 billion).