China Telecom, China Mobile hike dividends under Beijing pressure

HONG KONG -- China's three major telecom operators are further shifting toward higher dividend payments and lower capital investments, as the government's focus on state-owned enterprises turns to stock market performance and shareholders' returns.

China Telecom announced after the market closed Tuesday that it would increase interim dividends 16.7% from last year to 0.1671 yuan per share for a total 15.29 billion yuan ($2.14 billion) payout. The dividend increase exceeded that of net profit, which rose 8.2% to 21.46 billion yuan during the first six months of the year.