China's industrial output grows 8.3% in 2014

BEIJING - Industrial output in China grew 8.3 percent in 2014 from a year ago, down from the 9.7 percent growth seen in 2013, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced on Tuesday.

China uses industrial production (officially called industrial value added) to measure the activity of designated large enterprises, each with annual turnover of at least 20 million yuan (3.27 million).

"The industrial output in 2014 has maintained growth within a 'proper range'," said Ma Jiantang, head of the NBS at a press conference.

"The economy is maintaining steady operation under the new normal, with positive trends of stable growth, optimized structure, enhanced quality and improved social welfare," he added.

The NBS data also showed industrial output expanded 7.9 percent year on year in December 2014, up from 7.2 percent growth in November.

Bob Liu, an analyst at the China International Capital Corp (CICC), said the rebound of the industrial growth in December was partly because of the low base in November due to the impact from APEC when factories were shutdown during the period, and was also driven by improvement in exports.

In a breakdown, the output of manufacturing rose 9.4 percent, for mining that added 4.5 percent and growth for electricity, heating, gas and water was 3.2 percent, the NBS said.

The NBS said industrial output of state-owned and state-controlled enterprises saw 4.9 percent growth year on year in 2014, while that of joint stock companies expanded by 9.7 percent. Industrial output of enterprises funded by overseas investors expanded by 6.3 percent last year.

In 2014, industrial activities were the most robust in the country's western regions with a surge of 10.6 percent, followed by 8.4 percent in the central areas and 7.6 percent in the more developed eastern regions, the NBS data showed.

In the first 11 months of 2014, total profits of designated large enterprises hit 5.62 trillion yuan, up 5.3 percent year on year, according to the NBS.

China's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 7.4 percent in 2014, registering the weakest expansion in 24 years, NBS data showed on Tuesday.