China's food industry records steady expansion in first four months

China's food industry logged steady growth in terms of production and sales in the first four months of the year, official data showed.

The value-added industrial output of the agricultural and sideline food processing sector rose 4.7 percent year on year during this period, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

The added value of the food manufacturing sector climbed 4.5 percent year on year, while that of alcohol, beverage and tea manufacturing sectors went up 9.2 percent from a year earlier.

During the January-April period, retail sales of grain, oil and food commodities hit 593.6 billion yuan (87.96 billion U.S. dollars), up 9.5 percent year on year, while that of beverage as well as tobacco and alcohol grew by 10.4 percent and 7.8 percent, respectively, the data showed.