China Mobile, the nation's largest telecom carrier, said on Thursday that it will invest 100 billion yuan ($14.2 billion) into 5G network construction this year.

The move came after the company had already secured 15.4 million 5G mobile subscribers by the end of February.

China Mobile's net profit slid 9.5 percent year-on-year to 106.6 billion yuan in 2019, as an increase in operating expenses ate into revenue, which inched up 1.2 percent to 745.9 billion yuan.

The company's mobile-user base increased by 25.2 million to 950 million as of the end of last year.