appliance giant Haier's profit up 20.6%

The achievement came from effective control of inventory levels as well as trade and bill receivables, said its CEO Zhang Ruimin.
The Qingdao-based Haier has taken lessons from the 1997 Asian financial crisis and is preparing to respond to crisis every day, Zhang said.
Sales in overseas markets rose 9.8 percent year on year.
Zhang said the key to the growth in China was the fast-growing rural market.
Haier is benefiting from the central government's subsidy scheme to spur domestic consumption that began its trial run in December 2007. The second round of the scheme began on Dec. 1 last year.