China's industrial value-added output up 12.4% in November

BEIJING, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- China's industrial value-added output grew 12.4 percent year-on-year in November, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced Friday.

The figure was 0.8 percentage points lower than the October level, the NBS said in an online statement. On a monthly basis, the industrial value-added output increased by 0.91 percent.

In the first 11 months of 2011, the industrial value-added output increased 14 percent year-on-year, down 0.1 percentage points from the first 10 months.

In November, the industrial value-added output of state-owned and state-held companies rose 7.8 percent year-on-year, while that of collectively-owned and joint-stock enterprises expanded by 6.8 percent and 14.4 percent, respectively.

All 39 of the country's industrial sectors posted gains in November, with textiles up 10.1 percent; chemical materials and products up 14.5 percent; general equipment manufacturing up 14.2 percent; and, transportation equipment manufacturing up 11.4 percent.

The industrial value-added output measures the final output value of industrial production, or the value of gross industrial output minus intermediate input, such as raw materials and labor costs.

Zhang Liqun, a researcher with the Development Research Center of the State Council, or China's Cabinet, said the slowdown in growth is "inevitable," as the market is "weak and uncertain."

In general, China's industrial activities are retreating at a steady pace, he said.