BEIJING, June 9 (Xinhua) -- China's industrial value-added output rose 9.2 percent year on year in May, down from April's 9.3-percent increase, the National Bureau of Statistics said Sunday.
Value-added industrial output measures the final output value of industrial production, or the value of gross industrial output minus intermediate input, such as raw materials and labor costs.
In the first five months, total industrial value-added output increased 9.4 percent year on year, compared with the 9.5-percent growth rate registered for the first quarter of the year.
Sunday's NBS data also showed that China's heavy industries expanded 9.8percent year on year in May, while its light industries posted output growth of 8.0 percent from a year earlier.
Analyzed by ownership, the industrial output of state-owned enterprises expanded 4.4 percent, while that of collectively owned companies grew 4.0 percent, compared with 10.7 percent for stock-holding companies and 8.1 percent for overseas-funded firms.
The NBS statement also showed that 41 sectors tracked by the bureau saw output growth. The auto manufacturing sector grew 13.3 percent and general machinery manufacturing expanded 9.4 percent, while the textile sector grew by 8.9 percent, according to the NBS.
The growth of electricity output increased 4.1 percent year on year to 410.4 billion kilowatt hours in May.
Meanwhile, steel output added 11.3 percent year on year to 91.19 million tonnes in May, cement output increased 8.5 percent to 224.27 million tonnes, while 39.06 million tonnes of crude oil were processed during the period, up 2.4 percent.
Experts believe that recent efforts to tighten the property market and regulate the shadow banking system have limited domestic investment-driven heavy industries' production, while light industries' weak growth may reflect weak consumer spending.
"Rapid growth in industrial production, however, is unlikely this year due to weak economic momentum and the problem of overcapacity," said Lian Ping, chief economist with the Bank of Communications.
The NBS data also showed that China's urban fixed asset investment rose 20.4 percent year on year to 13.12 trillion yuan (2.13 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first five months.
The growth rate slightly decelerated by 0.2 percentage points compared to the first four months.
Investment in property development rose 20.6 percent to 2.68 trillion yuan in the January-May period, down 0.5 percentage points compared to the first four months, the data showed.
China's retail sales grew 12.9 percent year on year to 1.89 trillion yuan in May,according to the NBS.
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