BEIJING — China’s value-added industrial output expanded 5.7 percent year-on-year in September, down from 6.1 percent in August, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Oct 19.

Year-on-year growth in the first three quarters stood at 6.2 percent, slightly down from 6.3 percent in the first eight months.

Manufacturing output expanded 6.7 percent, down from 6.8 percent in August. Mining output growth slowed to 1.2 percent from the 4 percent in August. Meanwhile, the output of the electricity, heating, gas and water sectors increased 0.7 percent, down from 1.2 percent last month, the bureau said.

The figures also showed that industrial output in China’s western areas rose 8 percent in September year-on-year, followed by 7.8 percent in central regions and 6 percent in eastern regions. Industrial output in the northeastern areas dropped 1.8 percent.

China uses value-added industrial output to measure the final value of industrial production, or the value of gross industrial output minus intermediate input, such as raw materials and labor costs.

The NBS data only tracks the output of large Chinese companies with annual primary business revenues of more than 20 million yuan ($3.15 million).