China's industrial profits up 28.7 pct in H1

Profits for China's industrial businesses rose 28.7 percent year-on-year to 2.41 trillion yuan (374 billion U.S. dollars) in the first half of this year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced Wednesday. The NBS figures showed that combined revenues for the country's industrial firms rose by 29.7 percent from a year earlier to reach 38.86 trillion yuan from January to June. The report was based on a survey of industrial companies with annual sales exceeding 20 million yuan each. Surveys of industrial companies conducted before 2011 used a sales threshold of 5 million yuan. Out of the 39 industries surveyed, 38 reported year-on-year profit growth in the first half of this year, while only one reported a decline in profits. The oil and natural gas exploitation sector reported a 37.7-percent increase in profits during the period, while the oil refinery, coke production and nuclear fuel production sectors fell by 66 percent.