QINGDAO, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- China's leading home appliance maker Haier said on Saturday its global revenue increased 20 percent year on year to 241.9 billion yuan (37.2 billion U.S. dollars) in 2017 thanks to its expanding share in the high-end market.

Haier raked in 30 billion yuan of total pre-tax profits, with operating profits increasing 41 percent year on year.

Zhou Yunjie, president of Haier Group, attributed the performance mainly to the company's rapid growth in the high-end home appliance market.

GE Appliances, which Haier acquired in early 2017, reported its best results in the past decade, with an expected annual revenue growth of 6.6 percent and profit growth of 22.4 percent.

Zhou said Haier has been one of the world's top household appliances brands for nine consecutive years, as well as China's most valuable brand for 16 years.