BEIJING, Sept. 2 -- Companies listed on China's A-share market maintained steady operation in the first half (H1) of the year, data from the China Association for Public Companies showed.

The combined operating revenue of the listed companies reached 34.89 trillion yuan (about 4.9 trillion U.S. dollars) during this period and their net profits stood at 3.13 trillion yuan, the association said, citing the H1 financial statements of 5,340 firms.

Among the firms that have released their financial statements, a total of 3,032 reported revenue growth, while 4,141 of these firms achieved profitability in H1, according to the data.

Listed companies continued to increase investment in research and development (R&D) of both new technologies and new products in this period. Their total R&D investment increased by 1.3 percent year on year to 750 billion yuan, the association revealed.