Retail sales of beverage products reached 93.8 billion yuan (about 14 billion U.S. dollars) 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 0.5 percent from one year ago to 73.11 million tonnes in the first five months.
In May alone, these firms produced about 15.44 million tonnes of beverages, down 7 percent year on year, the data also showed.
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