Private companies help boost industrial profits in China

Chinese companies, mostly in the private sector, continued to remain profitable amidst strong growth in revenues in November, which underlines recovery in the world's second-largest economy.

Major Chinese companies with annual revenues of more than 20 million yuan ($3.18 million), reported an average 22.8 per cent year-on-year increase in profits at 638.5 billion yuan last month, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a statement.

This compares with the 20.5 per cent growth the Chinese companies had reported in October and the 7.8 per cent growth in September, Xinhua reported.

Over the 11 month period ended November 2012, Chinese companies saw profits climb 3 per cent year-on-year to 4.66 trillion yuan, compared with a 0.5 per cent increase in the January-October period and a 1.8 per cent decline in the January-September period, according to NBS data.

Combined profits of private businesses rose 18 per cent year-on-year in the first 11 months. State-run firms and overseas-funded enterprises, however, witnessed a more than 6 per cent drop in profit during the period.

Revenues from primary business of companies were up 10.8 per cent to 82.33 trillion yuan in the first 11 months.

Together with other indicators, the data show that China's economy is gaining steam after slowing for seven consecutive quarters.

China's value-added industrial output rose 10.1 per cent in November, accelerating from 9.6 per cent in October and 9.2 per cent in September.