BEIJING — China’s value-added industrial output, an important economic indicator, expanded 6.5 percent year on year in April, 0.5 percentage points higher than the same month of last year, official data showed on May 15.

In March, industrial production expanded 7.6 percent year on year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The NBS attributed the monthly slowdown to the International Labor Day holiday-shortened working days in April.

Industrial production expanded 6.7 percent year on year for the first four months, the data showed.

Industrial output, officially called industrial value added, is used to measure the activity of designated large enterprises with annual turnover of at least 20 million yuan (about $2.9 million).

Ownership analysis showed that industrial output of state-holding enterprises was up 5.6 percent in April, while output of share-holding enterprises grew 6.9 percent. Meanwhile, industrial output of enterprises funded by overseas investors increased 5.5 percent.