Equipment Manufacturing and High-tech Manufacturing Grew by 10.8% and 7.6%

Industrial output rose 0.4 per cent in the first eight months of the year from a year earlier, compared with a 0.4 per cent fall between January and July, according to the Office for National Statistics. The output value of the equipment manufacturing industry and the high-tech manufacturing industry increased by 10.8% and 7.6%, respectively, both significantly exceeding the growth of the industrial output value. Industrial output is used to measure the activities of designated large enterprises, which have an annual turnover of at least Rmb20m (about $2.93m). Tuesday's data also showed improvement in other economic indicators. The country's fixed-asset investment fell slightly by 0.3% year-on-year in the first eight months, narrowing further from a 1.6% decline between January and July.