China Steel Production Rose

China's crude steel output jumped to 349.36 million tons in 2005, up 25 percent year on year, Luo Bingsheng, executive deputy director of the China Iron and Steel Industrial Association (CISA), said at a news conference on Friday.

China, the world's largest crude steel producer, also produced 330.4 million tons of pig iron and 371.17 million tons of steel products, up 28.19 percent and 24.13 percent, respectively, over the previous year, according to CISA figures.

China's 66 large-and medium-sized iron and steel enterprises generated 1.18 trillion yuan (about 144.9 billion U.S. dollars) from sales of their products in 2005, up 16.42 percent year on year.

However, their combined profits fell 10.62 percent to 76.8 billion yuan, according to the CISA.