Zhong Guo Zheng Quan Bao·2025-03-18 14:04Core Viewpoint - China Unicom is embracing artificial intelligence (AI) as a transformative opportunity, expecting significant growth in revenue and profit in the coming years, particularly through increased investment in computing power [1][8]. Financial Performance - In 2024, China Unicom achieved operating revenue of 389.589 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.6% [3]. - The net profit attributable to shareholders was 9.029 billion yuan, reflecting a year-on-year growth of 10.5% [2][3]. - The company plans to distribute a total dividend of 0.1580 yuan per share for the year, a 19.7% increase compared to the previous year [4]. Business Segments - The revenue from connected communication services accounted for 76% of service revenue, up 1.5% year-on-year, while the smart network business contributed 24%, increasing by 9.6% [3]. - By the end of 2024, the user base reached 470 million for mobile and broadband services, with a net increase of 19.52 million users [3]. - The IoT connections exceeded 620 million, with a net increase of 130 million, and the vehicle networking connections reached 76 million, maintaining industry leadership [3]. Investment Strategy - In 2024, capital expenditure was 61.37 billion yuan, a decrease of 17% year-on-year, while computing power investment rose by 19% [6]. - The company plans to reduce capital expenditure further in 2025, with computing power investment expected to grow by 28% [1][6]. - China Unicom is also increasing R&D spending by 9.1% and has allocated special budgets for AI infrastructure and major projects [6]. AI Transformation - The company is focusing on upgrading its infrastructure to support AI, including enhancing IDC to AIDC and creating a collaborative computing resource layout [8]. - China Unicom aims to build high-quality data sets to support AI development and is actively engaging in the open-source ecosystem for large models [8]. - The company plans to promote intelligent applications to various industries, facilitating digital transformation [8]. Security Measures - China Unicom is developing an internal security system for AI, ensuring reliability and traceability across computing power, data, models, and application services [9].