Most of China's listed companies posted strong growth in profits amid market fluctuations in the first half, according to figures in reports released by those companies.

Of the 1,947 companies listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges, 1,700 made profits while 247 firms posted losses, according to the markets' half-year report disclosures, which ended Tuesday.

The combined net profits of listed companies totaled 784.99 billion yuan (US$115.26 billion) in the January-June period, up 41.17 percent from the same period last year.

Blue chip companies contributed most of the profits despite a 26.82 percent fall of the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index.

The combined profits of 50 constituent companies of the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index amounted to 554.61 billion yuan (US$81.43 billion), or 70.65 percent of the markets' total.

Components of the broader Hushen 300 Index reported combined net profits of 691.26 billion yuan (US$101.50 billion), accounting for 88 percent of total profits in the two markets. The index tracks the performance of 300 major companies listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges.

Average earnings per share for the listed companies was 0.255 yuan in the first half.

(Xinhua News Agency August 31, 2010)