BEIJING - Sales in China's pharmaceutical distribution industry surpassed the 1-trillion yuan mark for the first time to hit 1.12 trillion yuan ($181.2 billion) in 2012, according to a report released by the Ministry of Commerce on Thursday.

The industry is growing rapidly, though the pace has slowed somewhat, the report said, as the year-on-year growth of 18.5 percent registered in 2012 was 4.5 percent lower than that of 2011.

The report shows that drug sales at the grassroots level are expanding, the retailing industry is continuing to grow, but with low levels of chain sales, and effective new service modes have appeared.

The country's pharmaceutical distribution industry will have stable growth amid a series of structural adjustments, transformation and upgrading, the report forecast.