BEIJING -- Profits of China's three top mobile operators totaled around 32.5 billion yuan (about $4.59 billion) in the first quarter of 2020, with rising 5G subscribers.

Affected by the outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic, China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom saw net profits decrease by 0.8 percent, 2.2 percent and 13.9 percent respectively in Q1.

The companies firmly grasped the trend of the digital transformation of the economy and society and actively promoted the commercialization of 5G.

By the end of March, China Mobile and China Telecom saw a rapid rising of 5G subscribers amounting to 31.72 million and 16.61 million respectively.

Facing challenges posed by the novel coronavirus outbreak, China Unicom said it has made use of new technologies like big data, artificial intelligence and 5G to support precise epidemic control, smart public administration and the resumption of work and production.

China Telecom actively grasped the new informatization demand generated during the epidemic, said the company, with revenue growth generated from smart family applications and cloud services.