BEIJING — China's alcohol enterprises above a designated size saw a total revenue of 548.72 billion yuan ($78.64 billion) in the first eight months, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

The reading was up 8.1 percent compared with the same period last year, the ministry said.

During the eight-month period, the profits of 2,122 alcohol makers with annual revenue over 20 million yuan grew 18.7 percent year-on-year to reach 104.52 billion yuan, the MIIT said.

Chinese liquor-making enterprises above a designated size saw their output reach 5.08 million kiloliters in the first eight months, up 1.3 percent year-on-year.

During the same period, the output of breweries above designated size totaled 28.01 million kl, a 0.4-percent increase from a year ago.