BEIJING -- The output value of China's environmental equipment industry rose 31.64 percent year-on-year to reach 130.46 billion yuan ($20.71 billion) in 2011, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said Wednesday.

Sales of the sector climbed 31.09 percent from one year earlier to 126.89 billion yuan last year, while its profit margin increased 0.3 percent to hit 7.53 percent, the ministry said in a statement on its website.

Exports rose 25.66 percent to 5.08 billion yuan, while fixed asset investment jumped 36.68 percent to 23.9 billion yuan.

Despite an improvement in profitability, the industry still struggled with rising raw material and labor costs as well as capital shortages, according to the statement.