BEIJING — China's industrial production reported faster growth in the first quarter of the year, with stellar performance highlighted by the high-tech manufacturing sector, official data showed on April 18.

China's value-added industrial output, an important economic indicator, went up 6.5 percent year-on-year in the first three months, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

In March alone, industrial output rose 5 percent year-on-year and 0.39 percent from the previous month, the NBS said.

During the January-March period, mining output recorded year-on-year growth of 10.7 percent, the fastest among the three major industrial sectors.

The output of the manufacturing sector increased 6.2 percent, while the production and supply of electricity, heat, gas and water rose 6.1 percent, according to the NBS.

The high-tech manufacturing and equipment manufacturing industries saw marked growth by expanding 14.2 percent and 8.1 percent, respectively, both higher than the Q1 industrial output.

In terms of production, the output of new energy vehicles logged a marked increase of 140.8 percent, while that of solar batteries and industrial robots jumped 24.3 percent and 10.2 percent year-on-year, respectively.

In a breakdown by ownership, the output of State-owned enterprises rose 5 percent from a year earlier, while the private sector's output increased 7.6 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 $3.11 million).

The data on April 18 showed that China's gross domestic product grew 4.8 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of this year.