The sector saw 457.27 billion yuan (about 64.73 billion U.S. dollars) in revenue from January to May, down by 11.5 percent from the same period in the previous year.
Meanwhile, the profits of China's paper-making industry rose by 5.6 percent year on year to 22.13 billion yuan.
MIIT data also showed that paper output stood at 46.36 million tonnes in the January-May period, decreasing by 6.8 percent year on year.
In May alone, paper output declined by 0.5 percent year on year to 10.77 million tonnes.
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