BEIJING — China's value-added industrial output, an important economic indicator, further expanded in May as factory activities continued to pick up pace amid COVID-19 control, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on June 15.

The value-added industrial output went up 4.4 percent year-on-year in May, extending the rebound and up 0.5 percentage points from the growth rate in April, NBS data showed.

As of May 27, about 67.4 percent of the surveyed enterprises were back to 80 percent of their normal production levels, up 6.6 percentage points from later April, the NBS said.

In May, output by the manufacturing industry registered the fastest growth by expanding 5.2 percent year-on-year.

Output of industries in the production and supply of electricity, thermal power, gas and water reported a year-on-year increase of 3.6 percent, while the mining sector saw output up by 1.1 percent.

In the first five months, industrial output went down 2.8 percent year-on-year, with the rate narrowing 2.1 percentage points from the January-April period.

Despite the recovering momentum, China's industrial activities still face many challenges and uncertainties, the NBS said in a statement.

The industrial output is used to measure the activity of designated large enterprises with annual business turnover of at least 20 million yuan (about $2.82 million).