China's industrial output grows the fastest in 3 years

China’s industrial output grew the fastest over the past three years due to the country's restructuring and upgrading, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said yesterday.

Industrial output expanded 6.9 percent from a year ago in the first six months, the quickest since 2014, said Zheng Lixin, a ministry spokesman, adding that the growth resulted from supply-side reform and technology upgrading, "which also boosted industrial profit."

By the end of June, China has cracked down on "ditiaogang" — low quality steel made from scrap steel — and cut overcapacity in industries like cement and aluminum.

Industrial upgrading and restructuring has created advanced industries and boosted industrial growth, Zheng said.

Electronics and equipment manufacturing led the industrial growth over the first half, with output in the two sectors surging 13.9 percent and 10.9 percent year on year respectively.

Meanwhile, revenue of domestic industrial companies jumped 13.5 percent over the first half year from a year ago – 10.6 percentage points higher from the pace last year — while profit surged 22.7 percent year on year – 11.6 percentage points faster from the same period last year.