BEIJING, April 20 -- China's industrial capacity utilization rate came in at 73.6 percent in the first quarter of 2024, down 0.7 percentage points from the same period last year, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed.

Among three major industry classifications, the mining sector's utilization rate came in at 75 percent and the rate for the manufacturing sector stood at 73.8 percent. The utilization rate of the sector responsible for the production and supply of electricity, heat, gas and water stood at 71.2 percent, according to the data.

In terms of major industries, coal mining and beneficiation, food manufacturing, and textiles reported utilization rates of 71.6 percent, 69.1 percent and 78 percent, respectively.

Other sectors including general equipment manufacturing, automotive manufacturing, as well as computers, information and other electronic equipment recorded rates of 78.2 percent, 64.9 percent, and 74.7 percent, respectively, according to the data.

Industrial capacity utilization refers to the ratio of actual output to production capacity. The government's statistical authorities release utilization rate data based on surveys covering around 110,000 enterprises across the country. The data is released on a quarterly basis.