Tianjin, a port city in north China, scored 428.6 billion yuan (US$52.9 billion) in industrial output value in the first eight months of this year, up 21.9 percent year-on-year.

According to statistics from the municipal bureau of statistics, the city's added value from industry was 113.29 billion yuan (US$14 billion) in the eight-month period, an increase of 20.5 percent.

The combined profits of industrial enterprises reached 28.176 billion yuan (US$3.48 billion) in the first seven months of this year, up 33.9 percent over the same period of last year.

Joint-stock enterprises saw the fastest increase of 56.8 percent in their profits, scoring 14.34 billion yuan (US$1.77 billion).

Oil and natural gas industries are the biggest contributors to the city's industrial output. They posted a total of 10.9 billion yuan (US$1.35 billion) in profit from January to July, accounting for 38.7 percent of the city's total.

The bureau attributed the high industrial growth largely to the improved performance of joint-stock and foreign enterprises. In August they had a growth rate of 30.3 percent and 28.6 percent respectively.

Strong export was another factor, the bureau said. The city exported 15.23 billion yuan (US$1.88 billion) worth of goods in August.

(Xinhua News Agency October 3, 2005)