BEIJING — China's value-added industrial output, an important economic indicator, went up 8.8 percent year-on-year in May as production demand continued to recover, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on June 16.

The figure was up 13.6 percent from the level in 2019, bringing the average growth for the past two years to 6.6 percent, NBS data showed.

In the first five months, industrial output gained 17.8 percent year-on-year, resulting in an average two-year growth of 7 percent.

The industrial output is used to measure the activity of designated large enterprises with an annual business turnover of at least 20 million yuan (about $3.12 million).