File photo: IC

China's value-added industrial output increased by 5.3 percent year on year in the first seven months of 2026, official data showed on Monday.

In terms of sectors, the value-added output of the mining sector increased by 2.5 percent, while that of the manufacturing sector grew by 5.6 percent. The value-added output of the electricity, heat, gas and water production and supply sectors went up by 5.4 percent, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The value-added output of the equipment manufacturing sector increased by 9.7 percent year on year, while that of the high-tech manufacturing sector rose by 13.8 percent, exceeding the overall industrial output growth rate by 4.4 and 8.5 percentage points, respectively.

Looking at ownership, the value-added output of state-owned and state-holding enterprises grew 3.9 percent year on year, and that of private enterprises rose by 4.5 percent.

In terms of products, output of 3D printing equipment, lithium-ion batteries and industrial robots jumped 52.3 percent, 40.2 percent and 28.5 percent year on year, respectively.

In July alone, industrial output grew 4.5 percent year on year and 0.11 percent month on month, NBS data revealed.

Meanwhile, the purchasing managers' index for China's manufacturing sector stood at 49.2 percent last month.

From January to June, total profits of China's industrial firms above designated size reached 3.948 trillion yuan (about 581.67 billion U.S. dollars), up 18.7 percent year on year.

Industrial output is used to measure the activity of large enterprises each with an annual main business revenue of at least 20 million yuan.

Sun Xiao, an NBS statistician, said that from January to July, emerging sectors represented by high-tech manufacturing and digital product manufacturing accounted for approximately 50 percent of industrial output growth, an increase of about 3 percentage points compared to the first six months of the year.