BEIJING, Jan. 17 -- China's industrial production registered steady growth last year, accompanied by a faster pace of intelligent and green transformation, official data showed Wednesday.

The value-added industrial output, an important economic indicator, went up 4.6 percent year on year in 2023, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said. In December alone, the figure grew 6.8 percent from a year earlier and 0.52 percent from November.

The industrial output is used to measure the activity of large enterprises, each of which has an annual main business turnover of at least 20 million yuan (about 2.81 million U.S. dollars).

"Industrial production picked up steadily, with equipment manufacturing growing rapidly," Kang Yi, head of the NBS, told a press conference Wednesday.

Following a sustained economic recovery, China's industrial businesses have bounced back due to improving market demand.

The NBS data showed in November, the combined profits of industrial businesses rose for a fourth straight month, up 29.5 percent from a year earlier. The industrial capacity utilization rate stood at 75.9 percent in the fourth quarter, up from 75.6 percent, 74.5 percent, and 74.3 percent in the third, second, and first quarter, respectively.

Kang said China has made solid progress in promoting the intelligent and green transition of the manufacturing sector and fostering new growth drivers for the economy.

The output of the equipment manufacturing sector expanded 6.8 percent year on year in 2023, faster than the average industrial production growth. The production of solar batteries, new energy vehicles and power generation equipment surged 54 percent, 30.3 percent, and 28.5 percent, respectively.

New growth drivers have become important engines for high-quality development, NBS spokesperson Wang Guanhua said at the press conference.