SINOTRUK (Hong Kong) Ltd, China's biggest heavy-truck maker, boosted profit 74 percent last year as a construction boom spurred demand in the world's fastest growing major economy.

Net income rose to 1.11 billion yuan (US$157 million), or 0.71 yuan a share, from 638 million yuan, or 0.43 yuan, a year earlier, the Hong Kong-based firm said in a stock exchange statement yesterday. Sales rose 67 percent to 21.3 billion yuan. Sales of trucks with a capacity of more than 20 tons rose 47 percent in China last year, more than twice the pace of the country's overall vehicle market.