Industrial output increases 6.8% in Q1

China's industries enjoyed steady growth with enterprises' profits rising rapidly in the first quarter of the year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said on Wednesday.

Industrial output increased by 6.8 percent in the first quarter, 1 percentage point faster than in the same period of last year, ministry data showed.

In March, industrial output increased by 7.6 percent year-on-year, clearly showing a strong momentum for the whole industry.

The high-tech and equipment manufacturing industries have maintained higher growth. The output of the high-tech industry grew 13.4 percent year-on-year, 6.6 percentage points faster than that of the whole industry.

In the first two months, the total profits of industrial enterprises increased by 31.5 percent year-on-year, 23 percentage points faster than the whole of last year.

"The industrial economy developed steadily, while the industrial enterprises performed better than expected, and the market confidence continued to improve," said Zheng Lixin, spokesman for the ministry.

The ministry will continue to promote supply-side structural reform in the industry sector, implement the Made in China 2025 strategy, strengthen the construction of innovation centers of manufacturing industry, with a view to boosting the development of the real economy, Zheng said.

Zheng said the ministry will continue to shut down loss-making "zombie" enterprises and eliminate inferior steel products.

The country aims to curtail steel production capacity by around 50 million metric tons and coal by at least 150 million tons this year.

Zhu Sendi, a consultant with the China Machinery Industry Federation, said the industrial economy enjoyed sustained growth with the implementation of policies and measures intended for structural adjustment, adding the high-tech industry played a vital role in promoting the growth of industrial production.

Zhu said the task of cutting excessive capacity is very arduous, which is also a long-term task as it is involved in employment issues.

The telecommunications industry also maintained a steady growth, the ministry said. In the first quarter, telecoms business volume increased by 44.6 percent year-on-year, with 4G users reaching 836 million, accounting for 62.1 percent of the total mobile users.