BEIJING — China's value-added industrial output, an important economic indicator, expanded 4.4 percent year-on-year in August, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Sept 16.

The growth rate was 0.4 percentage points lower than that logged in July, according to the NBS.

On a monthly basis, the industrial output rose 0.32 percent from July.

In the first eight months, industrial output climbed 5.6 percent from the same period last year, down from 5.8 percent registered during the January-July period, the NBS data showed.

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 ($2.8 million).

The August industrial performance was affected by factors including a complex external environment, ongoing structural adjustments and fewer workdays than the same month last year, said NBS spokesperson Fu Linghui.

Extreme weather conditions like typhoons also dented industrial output, as super typhoon Lekima battered east China, he added.

Despite the mild slowdown, Fu said the figures revealed renewed momentum of industrial upgrading.

High-tech manufacturing led the overall industrial output growth with its 6.1 percent year-on-year increase, putting the figure for the January-August period at 8.4 percent.

In a breakdown by ownership, the output of State-controlled enterprises went up 4.1 percent year-on-year in August, while that of joint-stock companies went up 5.3 percent and that of overseas-funded enterprises increased by 1.3 percent.

Manufacturing output rose 4.3 percent year-on-year, and output growth of the mining sector rose 3.7 percent.

The data on Sept 16 also showed China's fixed-asset investment grew 5.5 percent year-on-year in the first eight months, 0.2 percentage points down from the January-July period. Retail sales of consumer goods rose 8.2 percent year-on-year, also a slight dip from the first seven months.

Fu said economic performance in the January-August period was generally stable with continued momentum for growth.

Pro-growth measures including counter-cyclical adjustments and lowering the reserve requirement ratio will create favorable conditions for keeping industrial output stable, he said.