GUANGZHOU, Dec. 17-- China Mobile on Tuesday signed agreements with 10 mobile phone manufacturers and retailers, the latest foray into the fledgling 4G market.

Tuesday's agreements saw China Mobile join with manufacturers -- Lenovo, Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo and Gionee-- as well as retailers and online platforms including Jing Dong, TMall, Suning, Gome and Dixintong.

The deals will speed up sales of 4G mobiles, a China Mobile official said.

On Dec. 4, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued 4G licenses to three operators, China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom, marking a new era in China's mobile network.

The three operators received permits for fourth generation (4G) services using homegrown Time-Division Long-Term Evolution (TD-LTE), one of two international standards. The technology will lower bandwidth and promises faster mobile broadband.

China Mobile will hold a worldwide partner conference on Wednesday, when a variety of 4G phones will be launched by domestic and international players.