Sinochem Corp, China's biggest chemical trader, said its profit rose 62 percent to a record in the first four months of the year, bolstered by surging energy demand.

Sales climbed 13 percent during the January-to-April period, state-owned Sinochem said in a statement posted on the Website of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission today, according to Bloomberg.

"Revenue and profit rose to records,'' Sinochem said, without providing figures.

China's energy companies are expanding capacities to benefit from demand in the world's fastest-growing major economy, which expanded by 11 percent in the first quarter. Sinochem aims to double its profit to more than US$1 billion within three years, the company said February 13.

The Beijing-based company's 2006 profit rose 27 percent to 4 billion yuan (US$516 million) from a year earlier, it said in February. Sales gained 6 percent to 180 billion yuan last year.

Sinochem is the parent company of Hong Kong-listed Sinofert Holdings Ltd to graph Sinochem International's share price performance against the benchmark Hang Seng Index.