BEIJING — China's textile industry posted stable revenue growth in the first half of this year, official data showed.

Textile companies with an annual main business income of at least 20 million yuan (about $3 million) raked in 2.52 trillion yuan in revenue in the first six months of 2022, up 5.7 percent year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

The total added value of these companies rose 0.9 percent year-on-year during the period.

The combined sales of main retailers amounted to 8.12 trillion yuan in the January-June period, up 0.8 percent from a year earlier. The country's garment exports amounted to 156.5 billion US dollars, an increase of 11.7 percent.

But the data also showed a 17 percent year-on-year decline in total profits of these companies and slight drops in yarn, cloth and garment output. The textile sector's employment levels also went down mildly.