(Yicai Global) May 11 -- China Mobile has tapped its chief accountant to fill the position of general manager, a position that had been left empty at the country’s biggest carrier for seven months.

Dong Xin, 53, will also become a director after stepping down from his current role, the state-owned telecoms operator said in a statement released on its website today. Former GM Li Yue announced his retirement last October as he was 60 years old.

Dong is a senior engineer and senior accountant with many years of experience in telecoms and financial management. He was promoted to deputy general manager in 2013.

Dong has appeared in public several times this year. At the firm’s January media conference he said that China Mobile will deepen opening-up and cooperation this year to promote the maturity of its standalone fifth-generation network, accelerate the progress of its 5G network from non-standalone to standalone and strive to commercialize its SA 5G network in the fourth quarter.

All 5G networks worldwide are based on the NSA mode, but many 5G network functions are not available in this mode, Dong said.

China Mobile’s business development took a big hit in the first quarter due to the Covid-19 outbreak. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, slumped 5.8 percent to CNY68.5 billion (USD9.66 billion) on a 2 percent dip in revenue to CNY181.3 billion, according to unaudited first-quarter earnings released in April.

Its financial report also showed that sales of mobile terminals, Internet of Things devices and other items was greatly affected in the first three months of the year, with the firm posting CNY12.4 billion in sales revenue and other income, down 34.9 percent.

Editor: Peter Thomas