Industrial output recovers in August

An employee works at the production line of a machinery company in Jinan, Shandong province. The province is adopting new technology to update its traditional industries. [Photo/Xinhua]

Industrial value added output witnessed better-than-expected growth in September, as efforts to promote industrial upgrades continued to bear fruit, data showed.

The indicator, measuring activities of large-scale enterprises, went up by 6.6 percent in September from a year earlier, compared with a 6 percent increase in August, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Thursday.

The figure grew by 6.7 percent year-on-year in the first nine months of this year, faster than the 6 percent increase a year ago, data showed.

Zhang Yiping, an analyst with China Merchants Securities, said recovery of consumer demand and seasonal rebound of export demand for manufacturing goods in September has led to a better-than-expected recovery in the industrial sector.

The manufacturing sector rose by 81 percent in September alone, up by 1.2 percent compared to the previous month, hitting the highest level since 2015, data showed.

Efforts to promote industrial upgrades continues to support the expansion of the manufacturing sector, according to Cheng Shi, chief economist at ICBC International.

High-tech and equipment manufacturing sectors performed well in the first three quarters, with output up by 13.4 percent and 11.6 percent, respectively, as the country encourages factories to move up the industrial value chain, while reducing low-end manufacturing output.

In the meantime, improved production efficiency reflects progress being made in implementing supply-side reform, according to Cheng.

Cheng said the economy is expected to continue to receive support from the improvement of industrial sector, after industrial profits have recouped the loss in 2016 in the first half this year.

Looking ahead, restrictions imposed on the manufacturing sector in winter, which is seasonal, may drag down the growth pace of the industrial sector a little in October, according to Liang Hong, chief economist with the China International Capital Corporation.

"The overall expectation for economic growth in the medium to long run remains positive, because the industrial sector has shown its resilience at the time when capacity cut in August has strengthened due to environmental protection concerns," she said.