BEIJING - China's major food companies saw combined profits up by 1.2 percent from a year earlier to 758.14 billion yuan ($123.54 billion) in 2014, latest data showed.

The growth slowed from a pace of 13.3 percent reported in 2013, the National Bureau of Statistics said Saturday in a statement.

The drop in profit growth came amid the slowdown of China's economy. The country's gross domestic product expanded 7.4 percent in 2014, the slowest pace since 1990.

Revenue from the main business of food companies rose 8 percent to 10.89 trillion yuan last year, while they turned in 924.15 billion yuan in total taxation, 7.2 percent more from the previous year.