BEIJING — China's major beverage producers registered steady growth in output during the first quarter of the year, official data shows.

In Q1, major beverage producers saw their output rise 6 percent year-on-year to over 44.35 million metric tons, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

In March alone, the beverage output amounted to about 17.24 million tons, down 1.6 percent year-on-year.

Major producers refer to companies with annual revenue of more than 20 million yuan (about $3.02 million).