Chinese automakers saw their total profits grow 65.8 percent year-on-year in the first half of the year as the country's auto industry maintained strong growth momentum.

First-half profits added up to 30.21 billion yuan (US$3.98 billion), up from 11.98 billion yuan a year earlier, according to latest figures from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

The country's 16 major automobile manufacturers reaped a total of 486.38 billion yuan in revenues, up 26.58 percent.

Fourteen of them reported higher revenues than the same period of last year, with the top three - FAW, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp and Dongfeng Motor - each scoring more than 80 billion yuan, said Zhu Yiping, an official with the association.

The ten biggest earners, which also included Chang An Automobile, Brilliance Auto, China National Heavy Duty Truck Group and Chery Automobile, sold a total of 4.15 million vehicles in the first half, taking an 83-percent market share.

(Xinhua News Agency August 20, 2007)