BEIJING - Chinese pharmaceutical-related listed companies reported robust profit growth in the first quarter of this year, fresh evidence of the firming economy, Xinhua-run China Securities Journal said Saturday.

As of Saturday, 245 publicly traded Chinese pharmaceutical companies have released their first-quarter reports, and their combined net profits rose 7.6 percent year on year to 21.9 billion yuan ($3.2 billion).

The rate is faster than the country's economic growth at 6.9 percent in the first quarter.

However, the net profit growth was outpaced by the 18-percent business revenue expansion in the same period, said the newspaper citing data compiled by Wind, a leading information service provider.

In the first three months, 28 companies witnessed their net profits surge by more than 50 percent and another 14 companies' net profits were more than doubled.

The performance was mainly buttressed by fast growth of the chemical agents and internet medical retailer sectors, it said.