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A batch of advanced new weapons will be delivered to the armed forces on schedule, Zhang Yunchuan, Minister of the State Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, told a work conference here on Monday.

He said that last year China completed a series of tests to finalize the designs of new weapons.

Citing the example of the Jian 10 fighter plane, Zhang said China's national defense sector had made significant progress in technical innovation and weapon development in 2006.

Xiaolong fighters and advanced Lieying- and Shanying-series trainer aircraft are in everyday use. Multi-model advanced missile systems were displayed at the 2006 Airshow China in Zhuhai, he noted at the annual meeting summarizing the previous year's work and making plans for 2007.

"Last year, the national defense industry achieved its best-ever progress in both output and sales," Zhang said.

Official estimates for the full year of 2006 released at the meeting show growth of 17 percent over 2005 in the sector's aggregate industrial output, and a rise of 25 percent in total revenue.

China's national defense industry was expected to register an aggregate profit of more than 20 billion yuan for the first time in 2006, up at least 50 percent from a year ago, Zhang told more than 200 participants.

The country's 11 military industrial groups cover six spheres -- aviation, aerospace, nuclear, weaponry, shipbuilding and electronics. They are all in the black, Zhang noted. Before their establishment in July 1999, most of China's military industrial enterprises were losing money.

The sales revenue generated by civil products was expected to surge 28 percent year-on-year while the per capita salary of employees would probably top 30,000 yuan, up 20 percent on a year earlier, Zhang said.

Commission spokesman Huang Qiang said the meeting had set a target growth rate of 15 percent for the industry this year.

Energy consumption for every 10,000-yuan output value would be reduced by four percent while revenues from civil products should grow around 20 percent. Pollutant discharges should decline by two percent this year, Huang added.

The meeting hailed the achievements Chinese defense engineers made last year and urged them to "carry out the year's research and development tasks on advanced weaponry while preserving both quality and quantity," Huang said without revealing details.

The meeting also urged military industrial groups in the nuclear, aviation, aerospace, shipping, vehicle, electronics and new material fields to vigorously develop civilian products and branch out into services by providing after-sales services for civil aircraft, ships and satellites.

"This will help coordinate the growth of the military and the civil economy and also sustain the development of military industrial companies," Huang said.

Technology innovations in information security, new energy, anti-terrorism equipment, marine engineering, satellite applications and optical-mechanical-electrical integration for both military and civil products were highly encouraged.