An official from a national food industry association said Thursday that the industry's output value is expected to exceed nine trillion yuan (1.4 trillion U.S. dollars) this year.

Xiong Bilin, deputy head of the China National Food Industry Association, made the remark at an industry conference held in the city of Luohe in central China's Henan province.

The food manufacturing sector has seen stable growth in the first quarter of the year, Xiong said.

The sector's output value increased 26.1 percent year on year to 2.02 trillion yuan in the first quarter, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics.

Profits reached 145.6 billion yuan, up 24.9 year on year.

"If the growth maintains its speed, the total output value will exceed nine trillion yuan this year," Xiong said.

Xiong said increased prices for raw materials, mounting dependence on imports of raw materials, unstable pork prices and food safety are the major issues to be addressed by the food industry this year.

The fact that the food manufacturing sector has grown despite a drop in the overall industrial production growth rate indicates that the industry has played a significant part in China's economic development, according to Yao Jingyuan, a researcher from the Councillor's Office of the State Council, or China's cabinet.