BEIJING - China's industrial output grew 16.7 percent in July compared with the same month last year, official data shows.

Industrial output for state-owned and large non-state enterprises rose to 720 billion yuan (90 billion dollars) in July, the National Bureau of Statistics said.

Industrial output for the first seven months of the year was 17.6 percent compared with the same period in 2005, with companies pumping out 4.69 trillion yuan worth of goods.

In June alone output was up 19.5 percent year-on-year, while in the first six months to end-June it expanded 17.7 percent, according to previous figures.

China's enterprises exported 487 billion yuan worth of goods in July, a jump of 21.8 percent compared to a year ago.

Among specific industries, output at Chinese textile companies rose 14.2 percent, while chemicals were up 18.8 percent.

Non-ferrous metals rose 22.4 percent, while ferrous metals rose 25.1 percent.

General purpose machinery production jumped 22.2 percent, while transportation equipment makers made 18.5 percent more.

Meanwhile, the production of electric equipment was up 14.8 percent. Communication equipment such as computers jumped 19.7 percent.

Output at electric power related concerns was up 11.6 percent.