China's food industry reported a steady increase in profits last year, data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology showed.

Combined profits of major food enterprises, whose annual revenues exceed 20 million yuan (about US$3 million) from their main operations, amounted to 620.66 billion yuan in 2020, up 7.2% year on year, according to the ministry.

The growth rate was 3.1 percentage points higher than that of all industrial sectors.

Specifically, companies in the agricultural and sideline products processing sector saw their total profits rise by 5.9% from a year earlier to 200.12 billion yuan while the food manufacturing sector raked in profits of 179.14 billion yuan, an increase of 6.4%.

Total profits of China's liquor, beverage and tea manufacturers climbed 8.9% year on year to 241.4 billion yuan last year.