China Telecommunications Corp, the country's third largest telecom carrier by mobile subscribers, has set up two investment units to manage assets worth more than 80 billion yuan ($12 billion) and develop new growth engines from internet of things, smart homes and other sectors.

The two investment units－China Telecom Group Investment Co Ltd and Tianyi Capital Holdings Ltd－were registered in October and November with capital of 5 billion yuan each, according to Tianyancha, a data bank that tracks business registration information in China.

The two units are positioned as investment and capital operation platforms to speed up strategic transformation at China Telecom, said a recent job posting on the telecom carrier's official website.

They will operate six funds to invest in smart hardware, internet of things, smart homes, emerging information communication technology, finance and other fields, the post said.

Chinese telecom companies are rushing to cultivate new growth points as traditional business shrinks. China United Network Communications Group Co Ltd, a bigger rival of China Telecom, is also scrambling to make inroads into other areas.

In September, it set up a big data unit to make full use of the telecom carrier's advantage in cross-industry data collection and integration, which can offer a variety of services in information sharing, transactions, government management, risk control and travel.

The move came after China Unicom announced plans to raise a total of 78 billion yuan from strategic investors such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Tencent Holdings Ltd, as part of the mixed-ownership reform to rejuvenate the State-owned enterprise with private capital.

Xiang Ligang, a telecom expert and CEO of telecom industry website Cctime, said telecom firms are facing increasing pressure to prepare for the upcoming 5G era.

"The next-generation mobile communication technology will bring huge opportunities. But to grab it, telecom carriers must spend heavily to get essential support technologies ready before the commercial application of 5G," Xiang said.