China's major industrial enterprises each with an annual sales volume of at least 5 million yuan (US$735,000) garnered 1.87 trillion yuan in combined profits in the first eight months of this year, the National Bureau of Statistics said Friday.

The figure was 19.4 percent higher than the same period of last year.

The total profits included 677 billion yuan generated by state-owned and state-controlled enterprises, up 0.7 percent, 389.2 billion yuan by private enterprises, up 48.6 percent, and 499.3 billion yuan by overseas-funded businesses, up 14.3 percent.

In breakdown, oil and gas sector posted a 54.7 percent profit growth, coal sector, a growth of 142.8 percent, steel sector, up 31.5 percent, chemical sector, up 32 percent, and building materials sector, up 40.3 percent. The transport equipment manufacturers had their combined profits up 35.1 percent, while the electronic and telecommunication equipment producers recorded a profit rise of 18.2 percent.

However, the electricity sector suffered a profit decline of 81.6 percent, and the chemical fiber sector had their gains down 47.1 percent.

Between January and August, the major industrial enterprises nationwide paid 1.33 trillion yuan in taxes, up 26.7 percent.

(Xinhua News Agency September 26, 2008)