The rise is an acceleration compared with the around 10-percent growth of listed companies in 2005.

The net profit of the 97 companies totaled 8.571 billion yuan (1.1 billion U.S. dollars).

Forty-eight of the 97 companies decide to give cash dividends totaling 2.797 billion yuan to shareholders, according to their annual reports.

By February 11, 679 companies listed on mainland stock market issued performance prediction reports, with 254 of them expecting net profit to grow in 2006. The Shanghai Stock Exchange now lists more than 840 companies and the Shenzhen bourse over 580, with a total market value around10 trillion yuan.

The net profits of all public companies in China added up to 215.8 billion yuan in the first three quarters of 2006, 22 percentup from the same period of 2005.

(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)