Growth of China's industrial output picked up in May following a six-year low in March and a rebound in April, pointing to tentative signs of improvement.
Industrial output grew 6.1 percent year on year in May, up from 5.9 percent growth in April, and 5.6 percent in March, the lowest monthly level since December 2008, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced on Thursday.
Industrial output, officially called industrial value added, is used to measure the activity of designated large enterprises with annual turnover of at least 20 million yuan (3.22 million U.S. dollars).
In the first five months, industrial output grew 6.2 percent year on year, the same growth rate as the January-April period.
The start of the year saw other lackluster economic indicators.
Economic growth slowed to 7 percent in the first quarter, down from 7.3 percent the previous quarter.
After more than a decade of double-digit growth, annual industrial growth slowed to 9.7 percent in 2013, and then to 8.3 percent last year.
Manufacturing output rose 6.7 percent last month, while the mining industry saw output grow 3.9 percent. Electricity, heating, gas and water posted growth of 2.2 percent.
Industrial output of state-owned and state-controlled enterprises saw 2.2 percent growth year on year, while joint-stock companies expanded by 7.5 percent. Industrial output of enterprises funded by overseas investors expanded by 3.0 percent.
All these figures are down from a year ago. NBS statistician Jiang Yuan said downward pressure on industrial production remains heavy.
Despite the slowdown, industrial structure continued to improve, Jiang said, noting innovation had accelerated and the expansion of emerging industries was much faster.
The industrial value added of the high-tech sector and equipment manufacturing sectors jumped by 9.3 percent, out-pacing overall growth by 3.2 percentage points, Jiang said.
Industrial output of emerging sectors such as electronic and telecom equipment, and aerospace equipment manufacturing surged by 12.5 percent and 20.4 percent respectively.
Industrial output of new energy automobiles, industrial robots, railway locomotives and smart TVs jumped by 280 percent, 130 percent, 90.8 percent and 59.9 percent respectively.
More economic figures:
China retail sales up 10.1 pct in May
China May inflation falls to 1.2 pct
China's (PPI) slid 4.6 percent in May
China fiscal revenue rises 5 pct in May
