BEIJING -- China Unicom announced Monday the establishment of a big data unit in its latest effort to seek new growth as traditional business shrinks.

The new subsidiary will make full use of the telecom carrier's advantage in cross-industry data collection and integration to offer a variety of services in information sharing, transactions, government management, risk control and travel.

Jiang Zhengxin, vice general manager of China Unicom, said the company welcomes external investment and wants to expand cooperation with strategic investors participating in China Unicom's mixed-ownership reform.

The State-owned telecom firm unveiled a plan to bring in private investors, including IT giants Alibaba and Tencent, to improve competitiveness more than a month earlier.

An agreement was signed between China Unicom and China UnionPay Monday to jointly use data resources, further technological cooperation and strengthen product research and development.

In the face of challenges in the broadband market and shrinking revenue from fixed-line voice services, China Unicom is swiftly expanding its business territory, with more energy channeled into sectors such as cloud computing, Internet of Things and big data.

Its 4G services, which once lagged behind China Mobile, the country's largest telecom operator, have been given priority and have contributed to substantial increases in business.

China Unicom's net profits surged more than 70 percent in the first half of 2017, mainly due to the transformation in business patterns, according to its mid-year report.