The Baoshan Iron and Steel Co. Ltd., China's largest steel producer, said its net profits climbed 2.7 percent to 13.01 billion yuan (1.68 billion U.S. dollars) in 2006.

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The earnings per share rose 2.78 percent to 0.74 yuan, according to the 2006 annual report of the Shanghai-listed unit of Shanghai Baosteel Group Corporation.

The report said the company reaped 157.79 billion yuan in sales income last year, up 24.6 percent from a year earlier.

Former president Ai Baojun has been elected to replace Xu Lejiang as chairman of the Baoshan Iron and Steel, and Fu Zhongzhe, a former deputy general manager, has been elected as its new general manager, the company said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Saturday.

Xu Lejiang replaced the retiring Xie Qihua, the "Iron Lady" of the iron and steel industry, as the new chairman of the board of directors of Baosteel Group, which is 78 percent state-owned, the group announced on January 16.

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