China shipped a total of 452 million handsets in 2014, decreasing 21.9% from 579 million units shipped a year earlier, according to data from China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT).

Of total shipments in 2014, 2G models accounted for 61 million units, down 64.4% from a year earlier and 3G models totaled 220 million units, decreasing 46%. Meanwhile, 4G handsets reached 171 million units.

Shipments of smartphones declined a moderate 8.2% on year to 389 million units in 2014, accounting for 86% of total handset shipments in the year. Shipments of Android phones totaled 349 million units in 2014, down 12.4% on year, the data showed.

In other news, the number of 4G subscribers in China is expected to reach 250 million in 2015, according to China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.