China's equipment manufacturing sector was the main driver of overall industrial output expansion in the first quarter of this year, official data showed.
During the January-March period, the equipment manufacturing industry saw its added value increase by 10.9 percent year over year, driving overall industrial production growth by 3.5 percentage points, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
Nearly 70 percent of key equipment manufacturing products registered growth in output, with the areas of electronics, automotive, and electrical machinery leading the way in added value increase, official data showed.
Moreover, the high-tech manufacturing sector, which accounted for 15.7 percent of the total industrial output, saw its value-added output climb 9.7 percent year on year during this period. Notably, the added value of optical fiber manufacturing, aerospace equipment manufacturing, and integrated circuit manufacturing all rose by 20 percent year on year.
According to Yin Xunfei, a researcher at the China Center for Information Industry Development, all the data indicates the central government's continued push to promote large-scale equipment renewal and trade-in of consumer goods, as part of the efforts to expand domestic demand.
"China has redoubled efforts to implement large-scale equipment renewal and trade-in of consumer goods, which has contributed to the simultaneous improvement of the equipment industry and related sectors. The sectors of automotive, railroad and shipbuilding, and aerospace all saw a rapid growth in fixed-asset investment," he said.
The central authorities are currently mulling plans on stabilizing the manufacturing growth of industrial machinery, automotive, and electrical equipment to further expand domestic demand, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
Robust growth of equipment manufacturing sector drives Q1 industrial output
