In the first ten months of this year, the industrial enterprises in southwest China's Sichuan Province made 14.9 billion yuan in profit, up 28.7 percent over the same period of 1998.

Their net profit reached 3 billion yuan, 1.51 billion yuan more than the same 1998 period, or up 100.7 percent.

According to Deputy Provincial Governor Wang Jinxiang, the profit of the industrial enterprises in light industry, pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals and building materials rose by a big margin during the January-October period.

The earnings of the state-owned textile enterprises reached 167 million yuan, a nine-fold rise over 1998.

Meanwhile, the losses of these enterprises dropped to 21.2 percent at the end of October, 9.3 percentage points higher than the national level. (Xinhua)