BEIJING, Nov 26 (Reuters) - China's industrial firms made profits of 437.4 billion yuan ($52.84 billion) in the first 10 months of 2002, up 16.3 percent from a year earlier, the State Statistical Bureau said on Tuesday.
The growth was faster than the 13.6 percent rise in the first nine months of this year, boosted by strong earnings from producers of transport equipment, coal and chemicals, the bureau said in a statement.
Profits of makers of transport equipment, including cars, soared 64.6 percent year on year between January and October to 35.2 billion yuan, it said. The sector accounted for 22.5 percent of the overall profit growth of industrial firms.
Profits of coal producers jumped 170 percent year on year in the first 10 months to 6.9 billion yuan, while profits of producers of chemical, machinery and rubber products rose between 50 and 60 percent from a year earlier, it said.
Analysts say the profit growth of Chinese industrial firms is picking up thanks to accelerating economic growth, driven by strong exports and sustained state spending.
State-owned industrial firms made profits of 205.6 billion yuan in the January to October period of this year, up six percent from the same period last year, the bureau said.
Profits of state firms, many burdened with bloated payrolls and teetering on the verge of bankruptcy, edged up 0.9 percent in the first nine months of the year, reversing a 4.1 percent decline in the first eight months.
China claimed victory in pulling the state sector out of the red in 2000, but conceded later only 30 percent of the improved profitability was from greater efficiency. The rest came from state support and overall economic growth.
Industrial profits started taking knocks early last year as the global economic slowdown hit China's exports with overcapacity contributing to deflation. ($1=8.277 Yuan)