LIVE FROM GSMA MOBILE ASIA EXPO 2012: The Chinese mobile industry will grow by 12 percent in 2012, according to the latest numbers from Wireless Intelligence, which expects the market to add 120 million net additions in the period.

China is the world’s largest mobile market, surpassing 1 billion connections in Q1 2012. China Mobile had a dominant 66 percent market share in the quarter, followed by China Unicom (21 percent) and China Telecom (13 percent).

The three Chinese operators began rolling out 3G in 2009; following a relatively slow start, uptake of 3G devices and services ramped up during 2011. Each is using a different flavour of 3G: TD-SCDMA at China Mobile; WCDMA at Unicom; and CDMA EV-DO Rev. A at China Telecom.

According to Wireless Intelligence, around one in four Chinese connections are now 3G and the research firm estimates that a third of the market will run on 3G by the middle of next year. 3G connections currently account for 9 percent of China Mobile’s customer base, 23 percent at China Unicom and 32 percent at China Telecom, the figures show.

According to recent data from China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) there were 814,000 3G base stations deployed in the country by year-end 2011, comprising 220,000 TD-SCDMA (China Mobile), 270,000 WCDMA (Unicom) and 324,500 EV-DO (China Telecom).