China's construction industry achieved a total output value of 2,005.7 billion yuan (US$247 billion) in the first nine months this year, up 21.7 percent year on year, according to a quarterly report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday.

The combined value of construction projects completed in the nine months rose by 18.2 percent to 949.9 billion yuan (US$117 billion).

Over the past nine months, the entire construction industry signed contracts of projects valued at 4,026.3 billion yuan (US$496 billion), up 23.8 percent, and the total floor space of housing under construction stood at 2.755 billion square meters, up 21.3 percent.

During the January-September period, the construction industry reported a total income of 1,758.1 billion yuan (US$217 billion), up 21.6 percent, and paid 60 billion yuan (US$7.4 billion) in taxes, up 18.6 percent, with total profit jumping 35.5 percent to 31.3 billion yuan (US$3.86 billion).

(Xinhua News Agency November 1, 2005)