BEIJING, April 18 -- China's value-added industrial output, an important economic indicator, went up 3.9 percent year on year in March, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed Tuesday.

In the first quarter, the value-added industrial output increased 3 percent year on year, up 0.3 percentage points from the level in the fourth quarter of 2022, the data showed.

China's industrial production has recovered steadily in the first three months, while business expectations have seen overall improvements, the NBS said.

Fu Linghui, spokesperson of the NBS, attributed the steady growth of the industrial sector to effective pro-growth policies, warming market demand and the recovery of industrial and supply chains in the country.

A breakdown of the figure by industries showed that the mining industry's output increased by 3.2 percent year on year in the first quarter, while that of the equipment manufacturing sector rose by 4.3 percent.

In terms of ownership, state-controlled enterprises saw an increase of 3.3 percent in output from January to March, while the private sector's output grew by 2 percent, according to the NBS.

In terms of products, the production of solar cells and new-energy automobiles rose by 53.2 percent and 22.5 percent year on year, respectively, signaling the continuous momentum of the green transition of the industrial sector.

In particular, Fu highlighted the improvements in micro and small businesses as one of the positive changes, citing that they posted a year-on-year increase of 3.1 percent in output in the first quarter, faster than the growth pace of all industrial enterprises.

The spokesperson, however, cautioned against the uncertainties of future external demand and constraints of domestic demand, noting that business performance still faces challenges down the road.

To promote the healthy development of the industrial sector, efforts should be made to implement pro-growth policy measures, expand domestic demand, upgrade traditional industries and nurture emerging industries, Fu noted.

The industrial output is used to measure the activity of large enterprises each with an annual main business turnover of at least 20 million yuan (about 2.91 million U.S. dollars).

Tuesday's data also showed that China's gross domestic product grew 4.5 percent year on year in the first quarter.