BEIJING — China's garment industry registered shrinking revenues and profits in the first four months of this year, but the decline was seen to narrow, data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) showed.

From January to April, the combined operating revenue of major garment enterprises dipped by 18.47 percent year-on-year to 362.3 billion yuan ($51.05 billion), the MIIT data showed.

The contraction narrowed by 4.99 percentage points from the decline in the first quarter (Q1).

Meanwhile, profits of these enterprises shrank by 34.77 percent to 12.99 billion yuan from the same period in the previous year, with the fall narrowing by 8.73 percentage points compared with the decrease in Q1.

The output of the enterprises was down by 11.36 percent to a total of 6.43 billion pieces produced in the first four months of the year, with the decline narrowing by 8.93 percentage points from that in the first three months, according to the ministry.

During the same period, the exports of clothing and accessories edged down by 22.3 percent year-on-year to $29.31 billion, said the MIIT.

Major companies refer to those with an annual business turnover of at least 20 million yuan.