China's industrial output up 16.1 pct in Oct.
(AFP)
Updated: 2005-11-15 22:01

China's industrial output increased 16.1 percent year-on-year in October to 632 billion yuan (78 billion dollars), indicating continued strong demand for exports.

The October rise was down marginally on an increase of 16.5 percent in September, with the figure hovering around the same mark since the beginning of the year, a National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) statement showed Tuesday.

The NBS provided no figure for the first 10 months.

However, Ma Liqiang, director of the National Development and Reform Commission's economic operating bureau, said in comments published on Monday that industrial output rose 16.3 percent to 5.69 trillion yuan in the first 10 months of the year.

Ma said China's power generation was up 12.8 percent on an annual basis, coal production rose 10.4 percent and coal reserves designated for power generation jumped 125 percent.

Oil production rose 10.3 percent for the first 10 months, oil imports were up 5.7 percent, value-added oil production was up 7.2 percent, diesel rose 9.7 percent and gasoline production was up 3.7 percent.

During the January-October period, freight transported by rail rose 7.3 percent and turnover at the country's ports reached 44.1 million containers, up 21.6 percent year-on-year, Ma said.

For the leading 129 industrial products in China, 55.6 percent saw increased inventories year-on-year, Ma said.

Demand for the country's cheap exports has made China the fastest growing major economy in the world, with Gross Domestic Product rising 9.4 percent in the first nine months of 2005.

Although a range of macro-economic controls and a currency revlauation have slowed growth in exports from last year, China's soaring trade surplus is riling its trade partners, with the United States in particuar taking umbrage.

US officials expect Beijing's surplus with Washington to hit more than 200 billion dollars this year after US data showed the trade gap soaring to 146.3 billion dollars in the first nine months of 2005.