The net profit of China's 1,837 companies listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses hit 345.03 billion yuan (US$50.52 billion) in the first quarter, up both year on year and quarter on quarter, the Shanghai Securities News reported Tuesday.

The companies' revenues in the period totalled 3.58 trillion yuan (US$524.13 billion), about 44.43 percent of the GDP.

Paper-making and printing companies' net profit rose most, up 500 percent year on year.

Banks and state-run giants were also key profit makers.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd., the nation's biggest listed lender, earned the most with a net profit of 41.55 billion yuan in the first quarter.

China Construction Bank Corp., the nation's second-largest bank, and PetroChina Co., the country's largest oil producer, followed, both earning a net profit of more than 30 billion yuan.

Experts attributed the profit growth to China's stable economic growth and the companies' increased investment income.

(Xinhua News Agency May 4, 2010)