BEIJING — A total of 68.2 percent of listed firms on the Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses posted year-on-year growth in net profits for the first half of 2018, the Economic Information Daily reported on Aug 28.
As of the morning of Aug 28, among the 2,361 listed companies that have published financial data for H1, 1,616 saw rises in net profits from the previous year, while 190 saw declines, according to information service provider Wind Info.
Out of all the companies, 383 saw their net profits at least double from the previous year.
Operating revenue of the 2,361 listed firms saw a 14 percent rise, reaching 10.24 trillion yuan (about $1.5 trillion).
Better performance in corporate profits came from the upstream cyclical industries, including oil, steel, building material and chemical industries.
Listed companies in sectors including new energy vehicles (NEV), biomedical and communication reported rising profits as new growth drivers continue to boost China’s economy.
For the NEV industry, production climbed 85 percent to more than half a million units, while sales surged 97.1 percent to 496,000 in the first seven months this year, statistics from China Association of Automobile Manufacturers showed.
The Contemporary Amperex Technology, a giant manufacturer of lithium batteries in China, earned 9.36 billion yuan in revenue in H1 this year, up 48.69 percent year-on-year.
The net profit of Wuxi AppTec, a global leader in pharmaceutical and medical technology platforms, climbed 73.1 percent compared with the same period last year, reaching 1.27 billion yuan.
Investment stimulated the expansion of new growth drivers. Data from the National Development and Reform Commission showed that investment for high-end equipment manufacturing and emerging industries of strategic importance saw a steady increase.
The intended investment for the high-tech industry, emerging industries of strategic importance and modern service industry accounted for 5.8 percent, 14.2 percent and 27.7 percent respectively from January to July this year.
