BEIJING - China’s industrial output grew 7.7 percent year-on-year in October, down from an 8-percent increase in September, official data showed on Nov 13.

On a month-to-month basis, industrial output in October rose 0.52 percent from the previous month, lower than the 0.91-percent growth recorded in September, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a statement.

For the first 10 months, industrial production growth decelerated to 8.4 percent year-on-year, down 0.1 percentage points from the first nine months of 2014, the NBS said.

China uses industrial production, officially called industrial value added, to measure the business activities of designated large enterprises, each with annual turnover of at least 20 million yuan ($3.25 million).

Industrial production accounted for 44.2 percent of China’s total GDP in the first nine months of 2014, making it one of the best leading indicators for China’s GDP growth.

China’s industrial output growth slowed sharply to 6.9 percent in August, the weakest growth since December 2008.