"The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is promoting the issue of 4G licenses with all its might," Zhu Jun, deputy director of the communication development department at the ministry, said at the same news conference. But he did not reveal further information.

Previously, MIIT Minister Miao Wei said China is set to issue licenses for the 4G mobile network by the end of the year.

China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd, the nation's second-largest telecom carrier, said on Thursday its third-quarter profit gained 51 percent to 3.1 billion yuan, from 2.02 billion yuan a year earlier. The operator attributed the good performance to the country's burgeoning 3G market.

In contrast, China Mobile Ltd earlier this week said its profit fell 8.8 percent in the period, and the carrier failed to benefit from 3G development.

In the fourth quarter, MIIT said it will make more efforts to cut back on overcapacity especially in the iron and steel, electrolytic aluminum, cement, flat glass and shipbuilding industries.

"The enterprises in this year's list with overcapacity will be fully sorted by the end of this year," Xiao said.

Meanwhile, China will improve the environment for micro- and small-sized enterprises to develop. "We will deepen our efforts in taking special action to support micro- and small-sized enterprises and relieve the burdens on them," Xiao added.

By the end of September, 60 supporting documents had been formulated by relevant departments, according to MIIT.

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