China Vanke, the country's largest property developer by market value, announced Monday evening that it had made a net profit of 2.52 billion yuan (US$368.9 million) in the first half of the year, up 22.5 percent year on year.

Company revenue in the first half was 21.81 billion yuan, up 26.4 percent year on year, the developer said in its half-year report to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

The company sold 3.488 million square meters of housing nationwide in the six months, up 31.2 percent over the same period last year in terms of total sales space.

The Shenzhen-based firm attributed the sales and profit rise to the upbeat Chinese property market performance in the first half, boosted by an array of government measures to bolster the economy and stimulate domestic consumption.

The Shenzhen-listed developer had edged down 0.9 percent to 13.24 yuan a share Monday before the release of the report.

(Xinhua News Agency August 4, 2009)