BEIJING — China's garment industry reported continued recovery in the first two months of the year, official data showed.

From January to February, major Chinese garment enterprises saw their combined output rise 38.4 percent from a year ago to 3.4 billion pieces, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

During the period, the combined operating revenue of 12,438 major garment firms amounted to 179.2 billion yuan (about $27.4 billion), up 21.4 percent year-on-year.

Total profits jumped 42.8 percent from a year ago to 7.8 billion yuan.

China's garment industry has shown signs of recovery with several indicators rebounding, but it has yet to return to its pre-epidemic level, according to the ministry.

The latest statistics show that China's online retail sales of clothing products rose 44.3 percent year-on-year in the first two months, while the country's garment exports soared 50 percent year-on-year to $24 billion.