China's battery makers report higher profits in Jan-Oct

BEIJING -- China's major battery manufacturers reported lower revenues but higher profits in the first 10 months of the year, official data shows.

Profits of major battery companies climbed 12.3 percent year-on-year to 31.52 billion yuan (about $4.82 billion) in the January-October period, according to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Business revenues of major battery manufacturers decreased 3 percent from one year earlier, totaling 611.98 billion yuan.

Among the industry's staple products, lithium-ion batteries logged an output of 14.64 billion units during the period, up 10.9 percent year-on-year, and the output of primary batteries and battery packs reached 33.05 billion units, down 0.8 percent year-on-year.

Major battery companies are those with annual business turnovers of at least 20 million yuan.