China's National Development and Reform Commission has issued handset licenses to nine companies in the past two months, which has brought the total number of mobile phone manufacturers to over 80.

The newest winner of the handset license is Tianjin Goodsense Group Company, which is the fifth mobile phone manufacturer from Tianjin to earn a license and has an annual production capacity of one million mobile phones.

Analysts quoted in local media say NDRC has issued more handset licenses because this will help create more employment opportunities and will help increase the total number of domestic mobile phone manufacturers, which is not so big right now. They believe that when the number increases, it will be easier for the government to merge them in order to lower costs and increase competitiveness among domestic manufacturers.