BEIJING — Major companies in China's light industry registered robust profit growth and rapid expansion in revenue in the first four months of the year, official data showed.

Some 111,000 companies with annual revenue of at least 20 million yuan (about $3.11 million) raked in 427.01 billion yuan in profits during the period, soaring 41.5 percent year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

The operating revenue of these companies totaled around 6.71 trillion yuan in the January-April period, climbing 27.9 percent from a year ago.

Exports of China's light industry products stood at $275.75 billion in the first four months, surging 54.7 percent year-on-year, according to the General Administration of Customs.

In breakdown, exports of home appliances and plastic products continued to expand, marking year-on-year growth of 55 percent and 62 percent, respectively.