China State Construction Engineering Corporation Limited, the country's major construction giant, saw increased newly contracted sales in January.

Newly contracted sales totaled 237.8 billion yuan (about 34 billion U.S. dollars) last month, up 9.2 percent year on year, the company said in a statement filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

In January, the total floor area under construction reached 1.2 billion square meters, up 13.5 percent year on year, the statement said.

Shares of the company gained 1.66 percent to close at 5.5 yuan per share on the Shanghai Stock Exchange Friday.