BEIJING — China's paper-making industry reported steady output growth in the first nine months of this year while earnings and profit dropped, official data showed.

Paper output rose 2.5 percent year-on-year to 92.88 million metric tons in the January-September period, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

In September alone, paper output climbed 6.4 percent year-on-year to 10.86 million tons.

The sector saw 43.69 billion yuan ($6.2 billion) in profit in the first nine months, down 20.2 percent from last year.

MIIT data also showed the revenue of China's paper-making industry declined 3.6 percent year-on-year in the period.