Orion Group, best known for its signature chocolate-covered pies, has become the first Korean confectionery to achieve annual sales topping 1 trillion won in the Chinese market, the company said Wednesday.

Orion said its sales for the year 2012 stood at 1.1 trillion won ($1 billion) to record a considerable increase from slightly over 700 billion won the year before.

Orion has shown an average annual growth rate of almost 50 percent over the past five years, and in 2012, the company expects its Chinese revenues to surpass domestic sales.

The recent jump eclipsed the 20 percent growth that the overall Chinese confectionery industry showed last year.

Orion was one of Korea’s first confectioneries, established in the 1950s, and has produced a steady stream of hit products, among which the Choco Pie is the most celebrated. Its gum and potato snacks have also gained popularity both at home and abroad.

The company’s overseas revenues have exceeded its domestic sales since 2010.

Also that year, almost two decades after it opened its Beijing office, Orion’s Chinese operations trumped Pepsi in the snack business to become the No. 2 foreign confectionery brand in China.

(jemmie@heraldcorp.com)