Lenovo Holdings topped China's private firms for the ninth year in a row, according to the latest annual research report by the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce (ACFIC).

The report, which tracks the development of private Chinese businesses, was released in Beijing yesterday.

With a reported turnover of 118.9 billion yuan ($18.4 billion) in 2006, Lenovo led all the surveyed private firms, 14 of which exceeded 20 billion yuan.

A total 3,191 companies, each with an annual turnover of 200 million yuan or more, took part in the study. Their total revenue was 4.2 trillion yuan, assets 3.21 trillion yuan and post-tax net profit 187.3 billion yuan.

The top 500 firms employed an average of 7,040 people and each paid about 187 million yuan in wages. A total of 96 businesses employed more than 10,000 people and 18 had a workforce of 30,000 or more.

Of the 500 companies, 82.6 percent were located in eastern China, mostly in Zhejiang (203 companies) and Jiangsu (112 companies) provinces. Only 12 percent and 5.4 percent were based in the central and western regions, respectively.

More than 60 percent of the firms paid 80 percent of insurances (pension, medicare and unemployment), Ouyang Xiaoming, director of ACFIC's economy department, said.

Vice-chairwoman of ACFIC, Shen Jianguo, said development of private industries had been sound and swift thanks to the robust economy, the issuing of the State Council's 36 measures to support development of the private sector in 2005, as well as improved management in private enterprises.

The report also found that private firms are increasingly aiming to expand into capital-intensive and technology-intensive industries through investments and acquisitions.