China's industrial output expands 6% in H1

BEIJING - China's value-added industrial output, an important economic indicator, expanded 6 percent year-on-year in the first half, official data showed Monday.

The growth rate was 0.5 percentage points lower than that recorded in the first quarter of the year, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement.

In June alone, industrial output increased 6.3 percent year-on-year, 1.3 percentage points faster than that registered in May.

In a breakdown by ownership, the output of state-controlled enterprises went up 5 percent year on year in H1, joint-stock companies up 7.3 percent, and that of overseas-invested enterprises increased by 1.4 percent.

High-tech industries maintained fast expansion, with the output for high-tech manufacturing up 9 percent year-on-year, three percentage points faster than overall growth.

The value-added output of new energy vehicles and solar cells grew 34.6 percent and 20.1 percent, respectively.

China's value-added industrial output is used to measure the output of large companies each with annual main business revenue of more than 20 million yuan ($2.9 million).