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(CNN) -- Chinese oil refiner Sinopec has announced its net profit in the first half of 2009 jumped fourfold from a year earlier, fueled by changes in state price controls for fuel, China state media reported.

The China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation said Sunday its net profit totaled 33.25 billion yuan -- $4.87 billion, the company said in a statement to stock markets in Hong Kong and Shanghai, according to Xinhua.

The oil refiner had seen its net profit fall by 73 percent in the first six months of 2008 because of price ceilings imposed in the country, and also because of global oil price rises.

This week's earnings report by Sinopec contrasts with reports from Shell and Exxon Mobil, energy companies hit by drops in oil prices during the past year. Both have reported falls in profits.

China's gross domestic product rose by 7.1 percent in the first half of 2009, a full percentage point higher than the first quarter, Xinhua reported.