The newly-listed Poly Real Estate Corporation made a net profit of 223 million yuan (US$27.875 million) in the first half of the year, surging 67.66 percent year on year, according to its half-year report published Tuesday.

 

Thanks to rocketing housing sales in major Chinese cities, the corporation's revenue from its major business reached 1.426 billion yuan, up 60.17 percent year on year.

 

The Poly Corporation, which listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange on July 31, 2006, reported a profit of 0.557 yuan per share in the first half.

 

China adopted macro-control measures to control the real estate market last year, endeavoring to rein in investment and rising prices.

 

But official surveys show that in the first few months of 2006 housing prices have continued to rise rapidly in big cities and market regulations remain vague.

 

In June housing prices rose 5.8 percent over the same period last year and 0.7 percent from May in 70 of China's big and medium-sized cities, according to figures released by the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Bureau of Statistics.

 

Poly said it had built 1.65 million square meters of new houses in the first six months of the year, up a colossal 251 percent year on year.

 

(Xinhua News Agency August 15, 2006)