OREANDA-NEWS. August 04, 2011. China's petroleum and chemical industry maintained sound growth in the first half of 2011, with output value up 34.4 percent to reach a record high of 5.32 trillion yuan (825.84 billion U.S. dollars), the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said.

The industry's output value accounted for 13.44 percent of the country's total industrial output value, according to a statement posted on the MIIT's website.

June's output value reached a monthly high of 1.02 trillion yuan, 35.7 percent higher than the amount posted in June of last year.

The MIIT predicted that the industry's growth will slow down in the second half of 2011, with its annual output value exceeding 10 trillion yuan.

Whole-year profits are predicted to grow by 28.5 percent to 900 billion yuan, the MIIT said.