BEIJING — China's cultural sector sustained steady growth in revenue in the first three quarters of the year, official data showed on Oct 30.

The combined operating revenue of major companies in the sector amounted to 8.65 trillion yuan (about $1.2 trillion) in the January-September period, up 1.4 percent year-on-year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The growth went up by 1.1 percentage points from that in the first half.

Almost all sub-sectors attained recovery in the first three quarters, logging rapid increases or narrowing declines in revenue compared with the first six months.

Emerging business models of the cultural industry maintained sound growth momentum in the first nine months, with their operating revenue rising 3.9 percent from a year ago to 3.08 trillion yuan.

The NBS data came from a survey of cultural companies with annual revenue of more than 20 million yuan or those meeting other standards set by the NBS.