BEIJING, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- China’s plastics industry reported strong performance in the first half of the year, with combined profit and revenue both registering double-digit growth, official data showed.

Manufacturers of plastic products raked in total profits of 57.47 billion yuan (about 8.84 billion U.S. dollars) during the period, climbing 16.6 percent year on year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Their combined operating revenue rose 23.4 percent from a year ago to nearly 1.03 trillion yuan.

In the first half of the year, the output of the country’s plastic industry amounted to 38.84 million tonnes, up 18.2 percent year on year.

In June alone, the sector’s output went up 6.1 percent year on year to 7.21 million tonnes.