BEIJING, March 18 -- China's light industry logged steady growth in 2022, data from the National Development and Reform Commission shows.

Last year, the combined revenue of major enterprises in the sector stood at 24 trillion yuan (about 3.46 trillion U.S. dollars), up 5.4 percent year on year, according to the commission.

These companies raked in total profits of 1.53 trillion yuan, rising 8.2 percent from the previous year.

In the same period, the sector's industrial added value climbed 2.4 percent from 2021. Industrial added value for the subsector of battery grew more than 10 percent year on year, with the output of solar cells soaring nearly 50 percent.

The export of light industry products also rose 4.2 percent year on year to 953.54 billion dollars last year, accounting for 26.5 percent of the country's total exports.