BizChina

Ever since China's three leading phone companies were granted 3G licenses in early 2009, they have embarked on a fierce and costly battle to win subscribers in the biggest cellphone market on the planet.

China Mobile, the largest telecom operator in the world, is tasked by the Chinese government with expanding the country's homegrown 3G network, using the TD-SCDMA standard developed in China. It has built the largest 3G customer base in the country, with 6.9 million subscribers at the end of February.

While China Mobile has strong brand recognition and the biggest customer base in China, its rivals are taking aggressive approaches to increase market share. China Unicom, the country's second-largest telecom carrier by market value, spent almost 3 billion yuan ($439 million) more last year than in 2008 on its networks, operations and supporting facilities. It has chosen Apple ( AAPL - news - people ) as its principal handset partner and started to sell iPhones at the end of last October. China Unicom uses the WCDMA standard.

China Telecom, another licensed 3G telecom operator, is also eager to chime in. It now leads in the nation's 3G network coverage, even though it has fewer subscribers than China Mobile. The company plans to spend more money on its 3G business expansion to reach its goal of 8 million 3G subscribers in 2010, said chairman Wang Xiaochu in a March press release. China Telecom uses the CDMA standard.

China has 16.1 million 3G subscribers as of February 2010, with 1.5 million new users signing up in February alone, according to the latest statistics released by the Ministry of Information and Technology. Overall, China has 766 million mobile phone users, so 3G has plenty of room to grow.

Sales of cellphones using China's own 3G standard (TD-SCDMA) will grow seven-fold this year, boosted by China Mobile's push of new phones and services, research firm Strategy Analytics said on Monday.

The research firm did not unveil total sales estimates, but China Mobile, the world's largest mobile operator by subscribers, has said it had 3.4 million clients using its TD-SCDMA network last year when it opened the service.

The technology's teething problems, along with a lack of product offerings, have been major factors inhibiting the development of a national TD-SCDMA network by China Mobile.

Seven-fold growth from 3.4 million would result in total TD-SCDMA phone sales comparable with sales of Apple iPhones in 2009, and well ahead of Microsoft Windows phones sold by all manufacturers in total last year.

Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd, the Chinese automaker whose parent company is buying Volvo Cars from Ford Motor Co, said profit rose on higher car demand and on increased stakes in its operating units.

Net income for the year ended Dec 31 rose to 1.18 billion yuan ($173 million), or 0.17 yuan a share, from 879 million yuan, or 0.14 yuan, a year earlier, Geely said in a Hong Kong Stock Exchange statement on Monday. Revenue more than tripled to 14.1 billion yuan from 4.29 billion yuan.

The carmaker boosted vehicle sales 48 percent last year as China introduced subsidies for small cars, helping the nation's auto demand surpass the United States for the first time.

Cost controls may buffer Geely's earnings against the impact of slower sales growth this year, said Vivien Chan, an analyst at SinoPac Securities Asia Ltd in Hong Kong.

"Automakers need to focus on cost control and introduction of new models to preserve margins this year, with demand growing more slowly," Chan said. "Cost control is Geely's forte."

Geely got government approval to take over five of its operating units in July 2008, and 2009 was the first full earnings year reflecting the expanded business.

Zhejiang Geely Holding Co agreed to pay $1.8 billion for Volvo Cars on March 29, marking the biggest overseas acquisition by a Chinese automaker, after Ford abandoned attempts to make a profit from selling European premium-brand vehicles.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group said on Monday it will invest 5 billion yuan ($732 million) over the next five years in its online payments subsidiary Alipay.com Co Ltd as part of its effort to maintain its lead over rivals Tencent Holdings and EBay Inc.

The new funds, according to Alibaba, will be used to improve the security of its payment infrastructure, the development of payment products and to attract new customers.

The company said it would also commit additional resources to online safety and security, risk and data management, as well as innovation in new technologies such as mobile payments.