China Mobile, the nation's largest telecommunications operator, will focus its overseas expansion on emerging markets in Asia and Latin America, the company's chief executive Wang Jianzhou said on Thursday.

China Mobile will use its experience from operating in Chinese market conditions to expand on both continents, Mr Wang told a forum in Beijing.

In particular, the company will concentrate on countries that are at a similar stage of development as China or slightly behind.

"The main purpose of going global is to create more opportunities to make profit, everything should be judged by this criterion. We must be careful in choosing target companies," Mr Wang said. "China Mobile has no interest in the mature markets of North America and Western Europe."

In China, rural markets are contributing more to the company with over 50 per cent of new subscribers in the first half coming from the countryside, he said.

Cost controls in rural areas are very important as the segment features lower average revenue per user compared with cities, according to Mr Wang.

China Mobile has over 300 million total subscribers.

The overall mobile network in China from all providers now covers 97 per cent of the population.