Increasing advanced payments reflect recovering

By the end of March, the country's 2,412 A-share listed companies had reported accounts received in advance worth more than two trillion yuan, an 8.4 percent increase on a year ago, according to statistics by a Hangzhou-based financial information services provider.

An increase in accounts received in advance, or money owed to a business by its clients, is considered a signal of recovering market demand, which may influence a company's share prices as they indicate strong future orders.

Companies in some sectors including technological appliance manufacturing, realty development and energy, have reported double digit quarter-to-quarter increases in their share prices.

Realty companies reported combined accounts received in advance of 658.1 billion yuan in Q1, topped by China Vanke Co Ltd.

The Shenzhen-listed realty developer reported 150.4 billion yuan of advanced payments in the first quarter of 2013, a 14.8 percent quarter-to-quarter increase.

Companies in the information services and pharmaceutical sectors also reported increases in advanced payments in Q1, reflecting a recovering domestic macroeconomic situation, said analysts from iFind, the information provider.