File photo of a 4G smartphone. [Photo: c-ps.net]

4G users in China are set to continue surging in 2015, with some 200 million new users added to the service.

4G clients in China increased by about 60 million in the first quarter, including some 24 million in March.

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is vowing to increase investment in the 4G sector this year to meet needs for more users.

The authority says more than half of broadband users will see speeds upgraded to 8MB/sec.

To achieve this goal, an official with the ministry Wen Ku says more infrustructure upgrades are needed in residental communities.

"I think that property management services in residential areas and property owners should support more telecom companies to provide services in residential communities, to allow more people to enjoy new technology by replacing old copper wire with fiber. This will also create competition for service providers, giving consumers more choices and lower prices."

Last month, Premier Li Keqiang called for fee reductions in cellphone data plans as well as better speeds.

The three main telecom operators in China, namely China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom have long been blamed for providing slow speeds and charging higher fees.