A freight train, which travels between Yiwu, Zhejiang province, and Madrid, in Spain, is parked in Yiwu. [Photo by Zhu Xingxin / China Daily]

BEIJING - China's rail freight volume, an indicator of economic activity, registered healthy growth in the first four months of this year, official data showed Tuesday.

Railways carried 1.29 billion tons of cargo in the Jan-April period, up 6.1 percent from a year earlier, according to figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

In April alone, rail freight volume was up 1.4 percent year-on-year to 305.5 million tons.

Steady growth in rail freight transportation served as a further sign of sound economic momentum.

In the first four months, China's industrial output rose 6.9 percent year-on-year, accelerating from a 6.8 percent gain in the first quarter, earlier NBS data showed.

China's fixed-asset investment in railways reached 141 billion yuan ($22.1 billion) in the first four months, marking an 8.6 percent decrease year-on-year, according to the National Railway Administration.