BEIJING — China’s cement industry in the first half of this year saw profits climb about 20 percent year-on-year to 80 billion yuan (about $11.64 billion), the China Securities Journal reported.

Nationwide cement output grew 6.8 percent to 1.05 billion tons in the Jan-June period, registering the highest growth rate in the last five years, according to the latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Analysts attributed the stellar performance to the steady expansion of the real estate and infrastructure sectors, the paper said.

According to the NBS data, fixed-asset investment including capital spent on infrastructure, property, machinery and other physical assets rose 5.8 percent in the first six months of this year.

Real estate investment maintained rapid growth by increasing 10.9 percent year-on-year in H1, the data showed.

Analysts expected the full-year profits to remain steady or even reach a higher level compared with last year as profits in H2 are usually better than those in H1.

In 2018, total profits of the cement industry amounted to 154.5 billion yuan, notching a record high.