BEIJING — China's beverage sales climbed 8.2 percent year-on-year in the first half of the year, data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology showed.

Retail sales of beverage products reached 147.36 billion yuan (about $21.85 billion) in the period, according to the ministry.

The output of China's major beverage manufacturers, each with annual revenue of at least 20 million yuan, edged down 1.5 percent from one year ago to 90.66 million tons in the first six months.

In June alone, these firms produced about 18.28 million tons of beverages, down 2.8 percent year-on-year, the data also showed.