China's biggest food trader COFCO has seen its revenue exceed 500 billion yuan (about 77.27 billion U.S. dollars) in 2020, a historic high despite the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic.

Meanwhile, the group's total profits topped 20 billion yuan in 2020, according to COFCO. Its revenue in 2019 was 498.4 billion yuan.

Lyu Jun, chairman of COFCO, said the hard-won results were an outcome of the group's full efforts to help contain the coronavirus.

During February and March last year, when the epidemic was most severe, COFCO supplied nearly 1.8 million tonnes of rice, flour and edible oil products, 8.61 million face masks, as well as 100,000 tonnes of medical alcohol and disinfectant alcohol to the national market.

In 2021, COFCO will focus on the businesses of agriculture and grain production, food production, financial services and real estate, and push forward the implementation of its three-year reform plan, according to Lyu.