China's service sector grossed 18.3 trillion yuan last year, according to the mainland's first nationwide economic census.

The long-underestimated yet fast-expanding services sector reaped net profits of 1.16 trillion yuan and employed 121 million people, a report released by the National Bureau of Statistics yesterday shows.

Peking University economist Song Guoqing said the report was not telling enough to determine just how much of an adjustment would be needed to the nation's GDP figures.

Earlier reports have said gross domestic product could have been understated by as much as US$300 billion last year.

"The report doesn't tell us what we most care about," Professor Song said, adding that the best was yet to come - in the form of a news conference the bureau will hold in Beijing on Tuesday.

The bureau's report breaks down services-sector activity as follows:

• The wholesale and retail trade grossed 11.09 trillion yuan, accounting for 60.6 per cent of services revenue. The 884,000 companies in the wholesale and retail industry made net profits of some 215 billion yuan. Sixty-three per cent were owned by private interests, 12.8 per cent by joint ventures and 8.3 per cent by the state.
• Turnover in the property sector was 1.47 trillion yuan, and net profit 122.55 billion yuan. Homes with an area of 14 billion square metres were built.
• Transport, warehousing and postal services recorded revenue of 11.17 trillion yuan, with transport contributing 87.5 per cent of the revenue and postal services 4.8 per cent.
• Other services such as finance and information technology earned 4.45 trillion yuan, with finance accounting for 54.4 per cent of the revenue, information technology 17.1 per cent, and rental and business services 15.6 per cent.