REFILE-China Mobile business returns to pre-downturn levels

(Refiles to change day of the week in first paragraph to Thursday, not Friday)

SHENZHEN, China Nov 19 (Reuters) - China Mobile (0941.HK), the world's biggest mobile carrier by subscribers, said on Thursday that its business has recovered to levels seen before the global downturn, as a rebounding economy drives international calling.

The company's international business dropped during the crisis but is now back to normal levels, Chairman Wang Jianzhou told reporters at an event in the southern Chinese city Shenzhen.

He added that a return of migrant workers to big cities, following their mass departures as work dried up during the downturn, is also helping to drive calling traffic.

The company expects its average revenue per user (ARPU) to continue to drop, while subscribers' minutes of use (MOU) remains flat, Wang said. (Reporting by Joanne Chiu; writing by Doug Young; Editing by Ken Wills)