China food industry reported steady growth in terms of both production and sales in the first 7 months of 2021, according to latest data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).
The value-added industrial output of food manufacturers rose 9.1% year on year, while that of agricultural by-product processors went up 10% during the period.
Meanwhile, retail sales of the food industry also witnessed robust growth with that of grain, oil and food up 10.6% year-on-year to Rmb 929.07 billion (US$143.5 billion).
Retail sales in the beverage segment surged 27.9% year on year to Rmb 158.71 billion (US$24.54 billion), while sales in the tobacco and alcohol segment grew 29.6% during the same period to reach Rmb 258.8 billion (US$40 billion).
In the first half of 2021, MIIT reported that food enterprises with annual revenue of more than Rmb 20 million (US$3.1 million) raked in profits of Rmb 306.95 billion (US$47.45 billion), up 17% year on year. This clearly showed that the food industry is extremely resilient amidst the pandemic challenges.
