BEIJING - China's listed companies raked in 4.75 trillion yuan ($659 billion) of net profit in the first three quarters of this year, up 2.46 percent year-on-year, data from the China Association for Public Companies showed.

Their total business revenue grew 8.51 percent over a year ago to 52.37 trillion yuan, the association said, citing third-quarter financial statements of 4,945 firms listed on the Shanghai, Shenzhen and Beijing stock exchanges.

Non-financial listed companies posted higher revenue growth than financial firms during the period, the data showed. Firms on the Beijing Stock Exchange led the revenue growth, while those on Shanghai Stock Exchange's sci-tech innovation board posted the highest net profit expansion.

In the third quarter (Q3) alone, the revenue and net profit of the 4,945 companies rose 7.09 percent and 0.69 percent, respectively, according to the association.

Net profit of firms in industries including wholesale and retail, photo-voltaic power, power battery and new energy vehicles recorded stellar performance in Q3, the data showed.

China's financial market added 300 listed firms in the first nine months, among which 246 were listed through a registration-based initial public offering system to raise more than 360 billion yuan.