China's major military industrial groups were forecast to have harvested a 78 percent profit jump in 2007 following three years of "unprecedented" growth, the China Securities Journal reported on Tuesday.

Profits of the 11 groups rose to 43 billion yuan (5.89 billion U.S. dollars), more than triple the 2005 figure, the report quoted Yu Liegui, vice director of the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, as saying.

Their total revenue was estimated to have grown by 17.6 percent last year, said the report.

The sector for civilian uses contributed 78 percent to the revenues of the military industrial groups, up from 73.7 percent in 2006 and 53.1 percent in 2005, the report said.

Meanwhile, technical and product exports were also a main source of profits, with exports in the shipbuilding industry topping 12 billion U.S. dollars, it said. It did not provide any comparable figures.

The report said China exported seven self-developed MA60 turboprop aircraft last year. The model, produced by Xi'an Aircraft Industry Co. (XAC), could carry up to 60 passengers and sold for about 100 million yuan in the international market.

The company had received a total of 116 purchase or lease orders for the aircraft by the end of last year, according to XAC data.

(Xinhua News Agency January 8, 2008)