Chinese industrial firms saw net profits soar 36.7 percent year-on-year in the first 11 months of 2007, driven by the nation's double-digit economic growth and strong consumer spending.

Combined profits at the industrial companies with annual sales of at least five million yuan reached 2.295 trillion yuan (US$314 billion) in the January-November period, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday.

Total sales of the companies rose 27.6 percent to 35.452 trillion yuan (US$4.85 trillion).

The State-owned companies earned 966.2 billion yuan in profits during the period, up 29.6 percent from the previous year.

Profits at overseas-funded firms, including those invested by Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan business people, jumped 34.3 percent to 612.6 billion yuan. Private businesses profit surged 50.9 percent to 400 billion yuan.

Transport vehicle manufacturing sector profits climbed 68.7 percent, and those with the steel, construction materials and power generation were up 47.2 percent, 63.1 percent and 39 percent, respectively.

The petroleum processing and coking industry earned 23 billion yuan in profits during the period, compared with 41.7 billion yuan in losses during the same period last year.