Beijing, April 16 (QNA) - China's value-added industrial output expanded 6.1% year on year in the first quarter of 2026, 1.1 percentage points faster than the previous quarter, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

On a monthly basis, industrial output grew 0.28% in March.

The industrial output is used to measure the activity of large enterprises, each with an annual main business turnover of at least 20 million yuan (about 2.91 million USD).

A breakdown of the data showed that the mining sector's value-added output increased by 6% year on year in the first quarter, while the manufacturing sectors grew by 6.4%. The value-added output of the electricity, heat, gas and water production and supply sectors rose by 4.3%.

In the same context, China's fixed-asset investment went up 1.7% year on year in the first quarter of 2026, reversing the 3.8% decline recorded for the whole of last year, official data showed Thursday.

The investment totaled 10.27 trillion yuan (about 1.5 trillion USD) during this period, the NBS said in a statement.

Investment in infrastructure construction rose 8.9% from a year ago during the period, and manufacturing investment increased 4.1%, according to the NBS.

Excluding the property sector, the country's fixed-asset investment rose 4.8% in the first three months. Investment in property development fell 11.2% year on year during the period. (QNA)