The profit of China's large scale industrial enterprises rose 22.1 percent from last year to 477.4 billion yuan (US$59.7 billion) in the first four months of 2006, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The state-owned enterprises achieved 219.4 billion yuan (US$27 billion) in profits, a rise of 11.5 percent.

The profits of collectively-owned enterprises grew 31.3 percent to 14.3 billion yuan (US$1.79 billion), while that of the privately-owned ones increased 47.2 percent to 64.4 billion yuan (US$8 billion).

The overseas-funded firms scored 137.4 billion yuan (US$17 billion) in profits during the January-April period, up 25.1 percent from the same period a year earlier.

Of China's 39 major industries, the profits of oil and gas exploration, non-ferrous metal, communication and electric power sectors grew by 52.6 percent, 98.5 percent, 88.9 percent and 59.3 percent, respectively, in the first four months.

The profits of electronics and telecommunications and coal industry rose 30.7 percent and 9.8 percent.

However, the profits of the iron and steel and petrochemical sectors fell by 50.8 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively.

The oil processing industry reported losses totaling 15.6 billion yuan (US$1.95 billion) in the first four months.

At the same time, the industrial enterprises gained 403.9 billion yuan (US$50 billion) in taxes, an increase of 20 percent.

NBS statistics also showed the sales revenue of the industrial enterprises amounted to 8.6 trillion yuan in the period, up 25.5 percent.

(Xinhua News Agency May 26, 2006)