The output of China's machinery industry rose about 32 percent
in 2007 to a record level of more than 7 trillion yuan (958.9
billion US dollars), according to figures released by the China
Machinery Industry Federation (CMIF) on Wednesday.
Officials at the CMIF said that it was the fifth consecutive
year in which the annual growth rate had exceeded 20 percent.
In the first 11 months of last year, the major machinery
manufacturers recorded 388.7 billion yuan in combined net profit,
up 47.79 percent year-on-year. The growth rate of profits was 16
percentage points higher than for output during that period.
The enterprises paid 210.3 billion yuan in taxes, up 27.59
percent.
The ratio of their combined liabilities to gross assets was
59.52 percent, down 0.27 percentage points, the officials said.
Cai Weici, deputy executive head of the CMIF, said that
domestically made products accounted for 82 percent of the
machine-building equipment used nationwide as of the end of 2007,
up from 71 percent in 2001.
Cai noted that since 2006, China had changed from being a net
importer to a net exporter of machinery. Machinery exports grew
40.74 percent in 2007, or 20.67 percentage points faster than the
rate of increase for imports.
The machinery sector's trade surplus was 22.5 billion US dollars
in the first 11 months of last year, or 9.43 percent of the
nation's total surplus for the same period.
According to customs statistics, the sector's foreign trade grew
30.3 percent to 327.1 billion US dollars in the January-November
period of 2007, including 174.8 billion US dollars in exports, up
40.74 percent, and 152.3 billion US dollars in imports, up 20.07
percent.
Cai said that last year, China produced 8.88 million motor
vehicles, exceeding the 8-million mark for the first time, for a
growth rate of 22.02 percent. Cai forecast that vehicle output
would hit 10 million this year.
(Xinhua News Agency January 23, 2008)
