China's food industry posts steady growth in production, sales

BEIJING, April 4 (Xinhua) -- China's food industry saw stable expansion in terms of production and sales in the first two months of the year, data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology showed.

The value-added industrial output of the agricultural and sideline food processing sector rose 6.5 percent year on year in the period, while that of the food manufacturing sector climbed 7.4 percent year on year, according to the ministry.

The sector of wine, beverage and refined tea manufacturing saw its industrial added value surge by 15.4 percent over the previous year.

In the January-February period, retail sales of grain, oil and food hit 310.26 billion yuan (about 48.85 billion U.S. dollars), up 7.9 percent year on year, while those of beverages and tobacco and alcohol rose 11.4 percent and 13.6 percent, respectively.