BEIJING, July 10 -- China's major internet companies and related services companies saw notable profit increases in the first five months of the year, data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology showed.

Profits of these companies surged 43 percent year on year to 57.62 billion yuan (about 7.99 billion U.S. dollars) during the period, the data showed.

The combined business revenue of these companies stood at 531 billion yuan, up 2.8 percent year on year.

Major internet companies and related services companies are those with an annual business revenue of at least 20 million yuan.