China's State Firm Profits Surged 12.8%

China’s state-owned companies posted combined profits of 2.26 trillion yuan ($356.91 bil.) in 2011, a healthy 12.8% year-on-year gain, reported the Ministry of Finance Wednesday.

The profit growth was powered by revenue that rose 21.5% year-on-year to 36.79 trillion yuan ($5.81 trillion). But profit growth was eroded by costs that rose even faster, up 22.4% to 34.90 trillion yuan ($5.51 bil.)

The full-year profit growth was less than the 13.7% growth for the first 11 months of 2011, despite the fact that December profits surged 57.3% over November. The growth rate for 2011 was only about a third of the 37.9% jump seen in 2010.

The best performing industries were chemical, construction materials, electronic products and non-ferrous metals industries, while transportation, steel, medical and power generation posted heavy losses.