BEIJING, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Chinese home appliance maker Qingdao Haier on Thursday announced first-half net profits were up 36.9 percent from the same period last year as the company tried to expand the international high-end market.

    Qingdao Haier, one of the two listed subsidiaries of the Haier Group, notched up net profits of 364 million yuan (47.9 million U.S. dollars) in the first six months of this year, on revenues of 17.1 billion yuan.

    At April's China Import and Export Fair, the Shanghai-listed company won big orders for its side-by-side refrigerators from the United States and Europe, at a price 20 times higher than the average price of China's exported refrigerators.

    The rise in profits was also attributed to Qingdao Haier's acquisition of Haier Group's four other subsidiaries, which were more profitable.

    In the first six months, Qingdao Haier held a 26.6-percent share in the home market for refrigerators and 16.3-percent share in the air conditioner market, reported Thursday's Shanghai Securities News.

Haier joins venture for HDTV sales
    BEIJING, March 16 -- Haier Group Co has partnered with Shanghai Interactive Television to tap the nation's booming high-definition TV market.
    Haier, China's largest home appliance maker, has launched a sub-brand for a new HDTV collection designed to broadcast programs made by SiTV, the digital TV arm of Shanghai Media Group, it said yesterday. The two companies plan to jointly develop HDTV technologies and the conversion of high-definition content. Details were not announced.  Haier marches on in int'l market     BEIJING, March 13 -- Haier Group, one of China's leading home appliance makers, will continue to implement its "global strategy" to capture a bigger share in the overseas home appliance market.

    "Since the initiation of the strategy last year, we have developed a sound overseas production and sales network. But there is still a long way to go for us to reap a lion's share of the global market," said Haier President Yang Mianmian.