China Petrochemical Corp. (Sinopec), Asia's largest oil refiner, signed overseas engineering contracts worth US$1.698 billion in the first seven months this year, up 193 percent year-on-year, said Sinopec on Monday.

Zhang Yaocang, the company's vice general manager, said the number of Sinopec's overseas engineering teams had risen from 62 in 2003 to 225 in 2008 while the value of contracts signed in a year had increased from US$180 million to US$1.93 billion in 2007, with an annual growth rate averaging 81 percent.

Last year, the company completed contracts worth US$1.21 billion with a profit of US$460 million.

Liu Jinxin, general manager of Sinopec International Petroleum Service Corp., said the company's engineering teams had finished 236 contracts, or 72.8 percent of the signed total, in 30 countries in the first half of 2008.

He said Sinopec's engineering business was growing steadily in Africa, Middle East, South and Central America.

(Xinhua News Agency September 16, 2008)