BEIJING — China's plastic industry logged steady growth in the first three quarters of the year, with the combined revenue of manufacturers surging 16.5 percent year-on-year, official data showed.

The total operating revenue of plastic product manufacturers topped 1.58 trillion yuan (about $246.6 billion) in the January-September period, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

These companies raked in total profits of 87.1 billion yuan, up 3.3 percent from a year earlier, said the ministry.

In the first three quarters, the output of China's plastic industry reached 58.81 million metric tons, up 9.3 percent year-on-year.