The net profits of industrial enterprises reached 174.97 billion yuan (US$21.08 billion) during the five months, an increase of 2.8 per cent compared with the same period of last year.

This was quite good compared with a general decline of 2.4 per cent during the first four months compared with the same period in 2001, the bureau said.

During the five months, the composite index measuring industrial enterprises' economic efficiency reached 120.3 points, an increase of 2.3 per cent compared with a year ago.

Profits by State companies and those in which the State holds a majority of the stake stood at 80.74 billion yuan (US$9.73 billion), a year-on-year decline of 12.9 per cent. This was better than the decline of 20.4 per cent during the first four months.

The net loss suffered by money-losing companies was 58.01 billion yuan (US$6.99 billion) during the January-May period, a year-on-year decline of 9.9 per cent, which was also better than a decline of 11.5 per cent during the first four months.

During the first five months, industrial enterprises handed in 231.88 billion yuan (US$27.94 billion) of taxes to the State, a year-on-year increase of 7.8 per cent.

"The improved performance was mainly because of the better-than-expected industrial production," said Xu Jianyi, deputy director of the bureau's industrial and transportation statistics department.

During the first five months, the industrial output value grew 11.6 per cent to 1,168 billion yuan (US$140.7 billion) because of increasing external demand and the central government's efforts to stimulate domestic investment and consumption.

"The recovery of oil prices on the international market also contributed to the improvement," Xu said.

The profits by oil and natural gas exploration firms declined 16.3 billion yuan (US$1.96 billion) or 36.1 per cent during the first five months compared with a year ago. This was better than a decline of 43.3 per cent during the first four months.

The big profit increase in the sectors of coal, tobacco and a majority of machinery manufacturing was another major reason for the improved performance of industrial enterprises, Xu said.

(China Daily June 26, 2002)