GUANGZHOU, March 31 (Xinhua) -- Midea Group, a leading Chinese home appliance manufacturer, reported an increase of 17.7 percent in its net profit in 2017.

Net profit attributable to the company's shareholders stood at 17.28 billion yuan (2.75 billion U.S. dollars), according to its annual report published on Friday night.

Its total operating revenue soared by 51.35 percent to 241.9 billion yuan last year, the report showed.

The manufacturer is improving its intelligent supply chain and developing the industrial internet, it said.

During the past five years, Midea poured more than 20 billion yuan into research and development (R&D), with more than 10,000 R&D staff. It has 20 research centers in nine countries, the report said.

Last year, the company applied for 16,934 patents.

In the future, Midea will focus on robotics and intelligent manufacturing.

A Midea and Kuka Aktiengesellschaft plant, covering intelligent manufacturing, logistics, home and healthcare, will be built in a Sino-German intelligent manufacturing park in south China's Foshan.

The annual output of robots from the plant is expected to reach 75,000 by 2024.