China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., Asia's largest oil refiner, said Monday its net profits for the first six months of the year rose 14.6 percent year on year on rising crude prices and expanded market sales.

Net profits reached 20.68 billion yuan (2.6 billion U.S. dollars), while revenues rose 34 percent to 482 billion yuan, the company, commonly known as Sinopec, said in a statement.

Sinopec said its major business grew by big margins as its resource holdings increased, benefiting from crude price hikes on international markets. The company also reported robust sales of oil and petro-chemical products.

The company is joining a nationwide shareholder reform plan to shift its non-tradable shares, held by the China Petrochemical Corp., its state-owned parent company, to the market.

Source: Xinhua