Industrial Growth Speeds Up in First Three Quarters

The added value of China's large and medium-sized enterprises hit 1,706.1 billion yuan (US$205.55 billion) in the first nine months this year, up 11.6 percent over the same period last year.

Ye Zhen, spokesman with the National Bureau of Statistics, attributed the surge mainly to the rapid growth of state-owned enterprises and high-tech enterprises as well as the jump of export in the industrial sector.

From January to August, the composite index of industrial efficiency soared to 112.5 points, the highest since the index was set up in 1992, and the total profits in the sector also reached record high since early 1990s.

Statistics indicate that in the first eight months, the country's industrial sector realized a profit of 241.8 billion yuan (US$29.13 billion), a rise of 1.1 times over the same period last year.

Of the total, profits of state-owned enterprises grew 1.9 times while the losses of money-losing enterprises were reduced by 11.2 percent.

The first three quarters also witnessed a quick growth of fixed asset investment, which went up 12.9 percent to 1,347 billion yuan (US$162.29 billion), according to Ye.

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