BEIJING — China's value-added industrial output, an important economic indicator, went up 35.1 percent year-on-year in the first two months of 2021, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on March 15.

The Jan-Feb output represented a 16.9 percent growth compared with the level in the same period of 2019, as well as annual average growth of 8.1 percent in the past two years.

On a monthly basis, China's industrial output increased 0.69 percent in February.

China's industrial output, officially called industrial value added, is used to measure the activity of designated large enterprises with an annual business turnover of at least 20 million yuan (about $3.08 million).

NBS spokesperson Liu Aihua attributed the sharp year-on-year increase in major economic indicators to the sustained economic recovery as well as a lower basis of comparison in the same period last year when the economy was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Industrial production also picked up as many Chinese people opted to stay put during the Spring Festival holiday, which fell in February this year, in response to the government's call to avoid unnecessary gatherings as part of anti-epidemic measures, according to Liu.

Many enterprises and projects have reported more working days than usual as local governments rolled out policies to offer economic support for employees who worked during the holiday instead of returning to their hometown, she told a press conference.

In a breakdown by ownership, the output of state-controlled enterprises went up 23 percent year-on-year, that of joint-stock companies went up 34.2 percent, and that of overseas-funded enterprises increased by 41.4 percent.

The manufacturing sector reported a year-on-year increase of 39.5 percent in the first two months, the fastest among the three major sectors, which also include mining and the production and supply of electricity, thermal power, gas and water.

High-tech manufacturing recorded a 49.2 percent growth in industrial output in the reporting period.