Feb. 21, 2007 (China Knowledge) – China Mobile Ltd. saw results from its expansion into the rural areas of the country as it added a record number of customers for a fourth consecutive month.

For the month of January, China Mobile gained 4.86 million subscribers, increasing from 4.83 million in December, Beijing-based China Mobile said on its website today. The total number of users increased to 306.1 million as of the end of last month.

China Mobile has been targeting rural areas due to the fierce competition in the cities. An estimated 65% of Chinese people still do not own mobile phones, compared with about 32% in the U.S.,