BEIJING — China's food industry grew steadily in the first seven months of this year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

Retail sales of grain and oil, food, beverage and tobacco and alcohol reached 1.14 trillion yuan ($161.2 billion) during the period, up 9.5 percent year-on-year, MIIT data showed.

From January to July, business revenue of food enterprises above a designated size increased 5.6 percent year-on-year to 4.55 trillion yuan. Their profit amounted to 308.64 billion yuan, up 11.4 percent from one year earlier.