China's industrial firms enjoyed profits of 725.2 billion yuan (US$87.4 billion) during the first 11 months of this year, an increase of 44.6 percent compared with a year ago, the National Bureau of Statistics said Thursday.

The profit growth, which was 1.4 percentage points lower than the first 10 months, is still much faster than the 20.6 percent rise in 2002.

Profits made by State-owned industrial firms and firms in which the State is a majority stake-holder were 347.4 billion yuan (US$41.8 billion) during the period, a year-on-year increase of 49.7 percent, the bureau said in a written statement.

Industrial enterprises handed in 649 billion yuan (US$78.2 billion) in taxes to the State, a year-on-year increase of 19.3 percent.

During the first 11 months, sales income earned by industrial firms reached 12.46 trillion yuan (US$1.5 trillion), an increase of 27.7 percent over the same period last year.

Net loss suffered by money-losing companies was 100.4 billion yuan (US$12.1 billion) during the period, a drop of 1.9 percent compared with a year ago.

Bureau spokesman Yao Jingyuan said the industrial sector's good performance was partly due to the country's fast fixed asset investments.

They grew at a year-on-year rate of 30.2 percent to 3.46 trillion yuan (US$417.1 billion) during the first 11 months, the bureau said earlier.

That performance was also attributed to the upgrade of domestic consumption, the adjustment of industry structure and the price changes on the international market, said Yao, also chief economist at the bureau.

He said profits made by a majority of the industrial sectors continued to grow during the January-November period.

Earnings of crude oil and natural gas producers rose 31.8 billion yuan (US$3.8 billion) during the 11 months compared with a year ago.

Profits of the transport sector, including cars, rose 28 billion yuan (US$3.4 billion), while earnings of ferrous metal smelters increased 28.9 billion yuan (US$3.5 billion), he said.

Profits of chemical raw material companies rose 17.4 billion yuan (US$2.1 billion), while earnings from electricity producers increased 13.2 billion yuan (US$1.6 billion).

The five sectors accounted for 53.4 percent of the increased profits for the whole industrial sector, Yao said.

Wang Zhao, a researcher with the State Council's Development Research Centre, said the accelerated profit growth suggests the Chinese economy has continued on a healthy development track.

China's gross domestic product grew 8.5 percent during the first nine months of this year as compared with a year ago, the statistics bureau said earlier.

(China Daily December 26, 2003)