SHANGHAI -- European companies are offering a rosier view of China, with a five-year high of 71% reporting profitable operations in the country, a business confidence survey found.

The 71% of businesses reporting a pretax profit for 2016 represents an increase from 66% the year before, according to the European Union Chamber of Commerce poll of 570 companies. Only 11% reported a pretax loss, down from 14% the prior year.

Chinese sales increased for 55% of these European companies in 2016 compared with the prior year. Last year, 51% of the companies cited sales gains.

Medical devices led the way among industries, with 75% of those companies saying sales rose, followed by automobiles at 68% and petrochemicals at 64%. On the low end, only 38% of transport and logistics businesses reported sales gains, along with 46% for information technology and communications.

Only 12% of the companies cited a decline in sales, compared with 14% last year.

As for outlook, 55% of companies were optimistic about their Chinese operations over the next two years, while just 11% were pessimistic.