China's growth enterprises post strong profit growth

BEIJING - Enterprises listed on China's NASDAQ-style board witnessed robust net profit growth in 2016, evidence of ongoing industrial upgrading and economic restructuring.

Combined business revenue of 603 growth enterprises listed on the board stood at 805.3 billion yuan ($117 billion) in 2016, an increase of 34.46 percent from 2015, the Shenzhen Stock Exchange said Wednesday.

In a statement based on annual reports or preliminary earnings reports from those businesses, the exchange said they earned a total net profit of 93.2 billion yuan in 2016, up 38.15 percent from 2015.

Among all the enterprises, 83.9 percent of them registered year-on-year business revenue growth, and 75 percent of them reported year-on-year net profit growth in 2016, with both indicators higher than in 2015.

Computer, software and IT services, and pharmaceutical sectors were among the best performers in terms of profit growth last year, it added.

The ChiNext Index, tracking the performance of the enterprises, edged up 0.25 percent Wednesday to 1931.97 points.