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One of China's three state telecom operators, providing fixed-line, broadband, mobile and enterprise cloud (Tianyi Cloud) services.
One of China's three state telecom operators, providing fixed-line, broadband, mobile and enterprise cloud (Tianyi Cloud) services.
Earns monthly fees from broadband, mobile and enterprise cloud and data services, with tariffs under government guidance, and is strongest in fixed broadband among the three state carriers. State-owned China Telecommunications Corporation controls it. These Shanghai shares, listed in 2021, are the same company as the Hong Kong shares.
In one line: China's AT&T.
Moat: wide (regulatory licence, scale, installed base). State-controlled spectrum licence and nationwide fixed-line/mobile infrastructure incumbency.
Headquarters: Beijing, China · Founded: 2000 · Employees: 277,911
Size China Telecom (601728.SS) is a China Communication Services company (Wireless Telecommunications) with a market value of $88.5B, the 22nd largest of 4,839 China companies the cockpit tracks. Shares closed at CN¥6.91 on 6 Nov 2026.
Performance Over six months the shares gained 14.6%, against -3.5% for the median peer and -16.4% for the China market (cap-weighted) — 2nd highest of 11 in its peer set.
Growth Revenue fell 3.6% over the last twelve months (peer median +7.9%); the operating margin is 6.0% (peer median 21.7%).
Valuation It trades at 21.8× forward earnings against a peer median of 12.8× (3rd most expensive of 11).
Price implies For today's price to make sense, revenue must grow about -17% a year for seven years (Req g). Recent delivered growth is +6%, so the hurdle is -22 pp: the price already allows for a slowdown.
Capital Return on invested capital runs 13.5 points above its cost of capital (5.0% WACC).
Next results Next results expected around 30 Mar 2027 (exchange calendar; dates can move).
| TTM | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | CN¥510B | CN¥523B | CN¥529B | CN¥507B | CN¥475B |
| Revenue growth | — | -1% | +4% | +7% | — |
| Gross profit | CN¥220B | CN¥147B | CN¥109B | CN¥142B | CN¥130B |
| EBITDA | n/a | CN¥144B | CN¥143B | CN¥141B | CN¥136B |
| Net income | CN¥28.6B | CN¥33.2B | CN¥33.0B | CN¥30.4B | CN¥27.6B |
| Free cash flow | CN¥65.5B | CN¥53.8B | CN¥54.5B | CN¥50.0B | CN¥46.9B |
| Capital expenditure | CN¥72.3B | CN¥73.1B | CN¥90.3B | CN¥90.2B | CN¥91.5B |
| Total debt | CN¥62.4B | CN¥61.2B | CN¥60.7B | CN¥72.8B | CN¥80.0B |
The default views of Competitor Analysis ▸ Charts, drawn from the same data. Open them in the cockpit to change the axes, pin companies and read every value.
| Company | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| China Telecom 601728.SS | $88.5B | +15% | -4% | 6% | 21.8× | -16.6% |
| China Mobile 600941.SS | $230B | +7% | -1% | 19% | 17.1× | -12.6% |
| China United Network Communications 600050.SS | $20.4B | -1% | 0% | 2% | 17.9× | -14.9% |
Peer set: Industry: the same industry and sector in any market, nearest in size. This is the same default set the interactive Competitor Analysis opens with.
| Measure | 601728.SS | Peer median | Rank in peer set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-month return | +7.6% | -1.6% | 3rd highest of 11 |
| 6-month return | +14.6% | -3.5% | 2nd highest of 11 |
| Distance from 52-week high | -6.5% | -10.6% | 2nd highest of 11 |
| Revenue growth (TTM) | -3.6% | +7.9% | lowest of 12 |
| Operating margin | 6.0% | 21.7% | lowest of 12 |
| Forward P/E | 21.8× | 12.8× | 3rd most expensive of 11 |
| Growth the price implies (Req g, 7 yrs) | -16.6% | 3.4% | least demanding of 12 |
| Growth delivered (Del g) | +5.9% | +2.7% | 4th highest of 12 |
| Hurdle (Req g minus delivered) | -22.4 pp | +1.3 pp | least demanding of 12 |
| ROIC minus cost of capital | +13.5 pp | +1.4 pp | highest of 12 |
| Company | Market | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g | Delivered g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| China Telecom 601728.SS | China | $88.5B | +15% | -4% | 6% | 21.8× | -16.6% | +5.9% |
| America Movil SAB de CV Sponsored ADR AMX | United States | $78.5B | -5% | +16% | 22% | 13.5× | -7.3% | +4.7% |
| Softbank 9434.T | Japan | $71.3B | +6% | +8% | 14% | 18.5× | 3.4% | +6.2% |
| Kddi 9433.T | Japan | $66.4B | +10% | +4% | 18% | 14.2× | -1.4% | +2.7% |
| Jio Platforms JPL.NS | India | $137B | n/a | +15% | 32% | n/a | 28.0% | +14.6% |
| Bharti Airtel BHARTIARTL.NS | India | $139B | +15% | +20% | 32% | 33.3× | 20.4% | +16.0% |
| AT&T T | United States | $146B | -14% | +4% | 22% | 8.5× | -4.8% | -6.1% |
| T-Mobile US TMUS | United States | $172B | -16% | +9% | 22% | 12.0× | -3.0% | +5.2% |
| Orange ORA.PA | France | $45.0B | -19% | +3% | 12% | 9.9× | 4.9% | -0.9% |
| Verizon VZ | United States | $189B | -3% | +1% | 24% | 8.8× | -7.2% | +1.5% |
| Telstra TLS.AX | Australia | $39.0B | -4% | -1% | 16% | 24.2× | 5.6% | +1.2% |
| Vodafone Group Public VOD.L | United Kingdom | $36.3B | +4% | +11% | 10% | 12.1× | 4.2% | -2.2% |