(Yicai Global) March 11 -- China's fifth-generation wireless handset sales will exceed 280 million units this year, according to the country's largest mobile operator.

As users upgrade their phones, China Mobile is looking to add more than 200 million 5G data plan subscribers this year, China News Service reported, citing the wireless carrier's white paper published yesterday. China's total smartphone sales will surpass 350 million units over the year, it added.

In 2020, China's 5G phone shipments reached 163 million units, making up more than half of the total, a research institute under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said in January. Sales of 5G handsets had been just 13.8 million units in 2019.

But securing enough supply this year may be a problem. The Covid-19 pandemic has led to a tight supply of phone components, including chips, memory, capacitors and resistors, which has driven up the prices and introduced uncertainties, Cui Fang, deputy general manager of China Mobile Group Device's technology department, said at a press conference.

China has accelerated its 5G network infrastructure construction over the past couple of years. Based on public data, the country had 718,000 5G base stations as of last year after the government granted related permits to four mobile operators in June 2019.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi