Statistics from the first national economic census show that the total debt of China's industrial corporations stood at 13,678.5 billion yuan (1,686.6 billion US dollars) by the end of 2004.

Their total assets amounted to 24,070.68 billion yuan (2,968 billion US dollars), according to a census bulletin released Wednesday by the National Bureau of Statistics.

The debt ratio of the mining industry is 48.8 percent, that of oil and natural gas exploration industry 38 percent, the manufacturing industry 58.3 percent, and the power, fuel and water production and supply industry 53.7 percent.

The first-ever national economic census, which formally began on Dec. 31, 2004, was designed to draw an economic panorama of the country's fast-expanding secondary and tertiary industries and complete a database covering all economic sectors.

Source: Xinhua