China's industrial output up 5.7 pct in July

BEIJING, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- China's value-added industrial output expanded 5.7 percent year on year in July, official data showed on Friday.

The growth slowed from a 6.8 percent rise in June, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics.

In the first seven months of this year, China's industrial output increased by 6.3 percent compared to the same period last year.

The industrial output is used to measure the activity of large enterprises, each with an annual main business turnover of at least 20 million yuan (about 2.8 million U.S. dollars).

A breakdown of the data showed that the manufacturing sector's value-added output increased by 6.2 percent year on year in July, while that of mining grew by 5 percent. The value-added output of the electricity, heat, gas, water production and supply sector rose by 3.3 percent.

The production of new energy vehicles, integrated circuits, and industrial robots surged 32.9 percent, 10.4 percent and 32.9 percent year on year from January to July, respectively.

Friday's data also showed that the country's retail sales of consumer goods, a significant indicator of the country's consumption strength, expanded 4.8 percent year on year in the first seven months, while fixed-asset investment rose 1.6 percent.