Sales of China's top 100 electronics companies soared 16.9 percent year-on-year in 2006 as market demand was boosted by greater disposable incomes, according to the Ministry of Information Industry (MII).

Their combined sales reached 1.12 trillion yuan (US$146.9 billion) last year, setting an all time high, the MII announced on Wednesday.

Legend Holdings Ltd., the parent company of China's largest personal computer maker Lenovo Group, topped the sales list. Its sales hit 138.9 billion yuan, followed by 108 billion yuan in sales posted by Haier Group, said the ministry.

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Television makers among the top 100 companies sold 71.24 million color TV sets, accounting for 85.1 percent of sales of the whole industry.

The 100 firms spent 3.9 percent of their sales on average on research and development last year, 1.8 percentage points higher than the whole electronics industry.

Haier Group led others in research and development spending last year. The electronic appliance maker spent 6.7 billion yuan on R&D, followed by 5.9 billion yuan of Huawei Technologies, the nation's leading telecommunications equipment provider.

Lou Qinjian, vice minister of MII, said, "the top 100 electronic companies should take advantage of the growth opportunities brought about by the Beijing Olympics and further improve self-innovation and operating efficiency."

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