LONDON – A London-listed leading Chinese bio-energy company saw rapid growth while eyeing the international market more.

China New Energy Ltd (CNE), the engineering and technology solutions provider to bio-energy, announced on Tuesday that its gross profit was up 60.9 percent, from last year's 4.33 million yuan to 6.97 million yuan in the unaudited half-yearly results for the first six months of 2011.

The company also saw its half-year revenue up 54.7 percent, from last year's 31.8 million yuan to 49.2 million yuan.

Some key expenses, however, were down compared to 2010, according to the half-year report.

Selling and distribution expenses were down 15.9 percent to 1.46 million yuan.

Administrative expenses were down 10 percent to 5.9 million yuan.

But other operating expenses in the first half of 2011 rose to 1.25 million, from last year's 400,000, mainly due to higher R&D spending.

Founded in Guangzhou of South China's Guangdong province in 2002, CNE mainly designs and builds bio-ethanol and bio-butanol projects.

Most notably in the first half of 2011, CNE secured 168 million yuan in new contracts, about three times what the company achieved in the first six months of 2010.

Saying the company expects to "complete these projects substantially by the end of the year," CNE Chairman Yu Weijun said: "Historically, we complete more projects and book more revenue in the second half of the financial year…. Barring unforeseen circumstances such as delays and cancellation of projects, the directors view the prospects for the full year with confidence."

The company now has a 60 percent market share in China and is targeting the international market, according to Yu.

On May 23, CNE became the first Chinese company to raise new money on the Alternative Investment Market to join London's stock market in almost a year.

Yu said the company sees the UK as an important base to enter the European Union market.

Apart from listing in London, the company secured its first contract in Europe to provide design and construction services for the production of an 80,000 ton-per-year fuel ethanol plant in Romania.

In the first half of 2011, the company secured a major contract in Thailand to sell products and services to Ubon Bio-ethanol Co, for a cassava-based ethanol project intended to produce up to 400,000 litres a day of edible ethanol or fuel ethanol.

Apart from its ambitions in the international market, Foo Shiang-Peow, a non-executive director, said the company attaches great importance to R&D.

The company has achieved "significant progress" in R&D, the report says, and it has "made significant advancement in converting cellulosic biomass such as corncobs and corn stovers into bio-butanol."

While China is getting more dependent on oil, the country has invested heavily in new energy in recent years.

Ethanol production in China is forecast to increase to 10 million tons by 2020.