BEIJING, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- China's major food processing companies recorded strong profit growth in the first nine months of the year, data by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology showed.

Enterprises with annual revenues of more than 20 million yuan (3.02 million U.S. dollars) from their main operations saw combined profits reach 440.32 billion yuan, up 10.1 percent year on year, the data showed.

Food manufacturers reported 131.69 billion yuan in combined profits in the same period, an increase of 11.9 percent year on year.

The combined profits of liquor, beverage and tea manufacturers rose 4.4 percent to 175.91 billion yuan, the data showed.