China's August Industrial Output Grows 5.2% Year on Year

China's value-added industrial output at large firms rose 5.2% year on year in August, up 0.7 percentage point from July, according to Jiemian News. On a month-on-month basis, output increased 0.54%, while industrial output rose 5.3% in the first eight months of the year. By sector, mining fell 1.4%, manufacturing grew 6.1%, and utilities rose 4.9%. By ownership type, output at state-controlled firms increased 3.0%, shareholding firms 5.7%, foreign-invested firms including those from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan 3.4%, and private firms 3.7%. Among 41 major industries, 29 posted year-on-year growth. In product terms, 286 of 626 industrial products recorded output growth in August. Steel output fell 5.5% to 114.75 million tons, cement dropped 11.7% to 129.08 million tons, automobiles declined 2.7% to 2.697 million units, including a 21.9% rise in new-energy vehicle output to 1.647 million units. Industrial firms' product sales ratio was 96.8%, down 0.1 percentage point, and export delivery value rose 11.1% to 143.57 billion yuan.