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China's industrial firms garnered a combined 810.7 billion yuan (US$101.4 billion) in profits in the first half of 2006, up 28 percent from the same period a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said yesterday.

The pace of industrial earnings growth accelerated from 25.5 percent in the first five months, 22.1 percent in the first four months and 21.3 percent in the first quarter. This has raised concerns among some economists that the improved profitability might stoke already red-hot fixed asset investment growth if companies pour their profits back into expansion projects.

The robust industrial earnings growth, primarily driven by soaring profits in sectors such as non-ferrous metals, transportation equipment production and energy, is in line with the surging economy, which grew 10.9 percent in the first half of this year.

The profits of non-ferrous metal firms rocketed 99.3 percent in the first six months from a year earlier, while profits in the transportation equipment-making sector jumped 61.1 percent in the same period, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement posted on its website yesterday.

The steel industry, buffeted by rising iron ore costs and declining steel prices, saw its profit dropping 20 percent in the first six months from a year earlier, while the oil refinery and coking industry lost a net 27.7 billion yuan (US$2.8 billion) in the first six months of this year.

The industrial firms' rising profitability is raising concerns among some economists that it might spur companies to reinvest more of their earnings in fixed assets such as plants and equipment to fuel their future expansion, resulting in an upsurge in fixed-asset investment growth.

"The improved industrial profitability means companies have more capital at their own disposal and therefore make their investments greater," said Han Meng, an economist with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

This, the economist said, might complicate the government's on-going push to cool down the economy, which it fears is overheating.

Chinese economic growth accelerated to a stunning 11.3 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, the fastest pace in more than a decade, according to figures released by the bureau earlier this week.

Urban fixed-asset investment soared 31.3 percent in the first six months of this year, after it expanded 30.3 percent in the first five months.

"The roaring economy may make companies more likely to flex their financial muscles and plough more of their earnings back into plants and other fixed assets investment to fuel their future expansion," Han said.

Divided into firms, private industrial enterprises reported the fastest earnings growth, followed by joint-stock companies, the statistics showed.

Profits made by private industrial enterprises surged 52.9 percent in the first six month of this year from a year earlier, to 118.2 billion yuan (US$14.8 billion).

Joint-stock companies made a total of 440.6 billion yuan (US$55.8 billion) profit, climbing 30.5 percent on a year-on-year basis.

State-owned industrial firms realized 364.2 billion yuan (US$45.5 billion) profits in the first six months of this year, a year-on-year increase of 18.6 percent.

Profits of the industrial firms grew 23 percent and 40 percent in 2005 and 2004 respectively, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

(China Daily July 21, 2006)