Both China's computer and home electrical appliances sectors recorded an impressive growth in corporate profits in the first half of this year, the Ministry of Information Industry said on Wednesday.

Between January and June, the computer sector gained 114 billion yuan (US$15.1 billion) in business takings, up 14 percent on last year, and the home electrical appliances sector raked in 249.6 billion yuan, up 12 percent.

Computer enterprises nationwide realized 2.7 billion yuan in profits, up 600 percent, and home appliances enterprises, 3.6 billion yuan, up 513 percent.

The sources said new technologies and a surge in the number of new users were behind the increase in sales.

In the six months, China's 100 leading electronics and IT enterprises sold 12.76 million computers on the domestic market, up 112 percent, and exported 130,000, up 103 percent.

Under fiercer competition with new products, however, the top 100 reported their sale volumes of color televisions down 10 percent to 27.75 million sets, and export volume, down 28 percent to 9.47 million sets.

Telecommunications enterprises nationwide realized 75.7 billion yuan in business takings, up 21 percent, and 5.1 billion yuan in profits, up 71 percent, the sources added.

(Xinhua News Agency September 12, 2007)