(Yicai Global) Jan. 17 -- China's value-added industrial output, an important economic indicator, expanded 5.7 percent year on year in 2019, slowing from 6.2 percent growth in 2018, official data showed Friday.

The growth rate was higher than that in the first 11 months of 2019, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

In December alone, China's industrial output expanded 6.9 percent year on year, up 0.7 percentage points from November.

China's industrial output, officially called industrial value added, is used to measure the activity of designated large enterprises with annual business turnover of at least 20 million yuan (about 2.8 million U.S. dollars).

In a breakdown by ownership, the output of state-holding enterprises climbed 4.8 percent in 2019, that of joint-stock companies went up 6.8 percent, and that of overseas-funded enterprises rose by 2 percent.

The production and supply of electricity, thermal power, gas and water reported a year-on-year increase of 7 percent in 2019, the fastest among the three major sectors, which also include mining and manufacturing.

Manufacturing output rose 6 percent year on year, while mining output edged up 5 percent, the NBS said.

Industrial structure continued to improve last year, with production in high-tech manufacturing industries and strategic emerging industries expanding by 8.8 percent and 8.4 percent, respectively.