China's light industry registered higher profits but lower revenue in 2020, with its production and operation gradually recovering, official data showed.

Some 108,700 companies with an annual revenue of over 20 million yuan (about $3.09 million) raked in 1.33 trillion yuan in profits last year, up 3.6 percent year on year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

The operating revenue of these companies totaled 19.47 trillion yuan in 2020, dropping by 1.7 percent from a year ago. The decline in revenue narrowed month by month with the sector's overall operation continuing to improve, the MIIT noted.

MIIT's data also showed the value-added industrial output of the sector dipped by 0.8 percent year on year in 2020.

Exports of the sector's eight major products stood at $362.1 billion last year, an increase of 7 percent, according to the General Administration of Customs.