Recovery of industrial economy seen steady

Demand rebound, some growing manufacturing segments key factors

China's industrial economy is expected to maintain a steady recovery momentum this year on the back of factors like rebounding domestic demand, a series of favorable government policies encouraging industrial production and brisk expansion of high-tech equipment manufacturing, experts said.

Their comments came after data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Wednesday that China's industrial output, a gauge of activity in manufacturing, mining and utilities, grew 4.6 percent year-on-year in 2023. The figure rose 6.8 percent year-on-year in December after a 6.6 percent growth in November.

NBS data also showed the output of equipment manufacturing recorded a year-on-year growth of 6.8 percent last year, 2.2 percentage points higher than that of overall industrial output.