China's industrial output growth may indicate a slowdown this year, a senior official from China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) stated on Thursday, February 24.
Xiao Chunquan, deputy director of the MIIT Performance Inspection and Coordination Bureau, stated at a press conference that China's full-year industrial added-value output in 2011 could rise by 11 percent year on year, down 4.7 percentage points from the year-on-year growth rate in 2010.
Mr. Xiao said that China's full-year industrial added-value output last year rose by 15.7 percent year on year to RMB 16 trillion ($2.43 trillion), which was significantly higher than the RMB 7.72 trillion recorded in 2005.
The 4.7 percentage point slowdown was likely due to the risk of falling exports as pressure for the appreciation of the Chinese currency grew and due to the ongoing weakness of global demand growth, as well as being due to inflation, the financial problems of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and environmental restrictions, Mr. Xiao stated.
Industrial value-added output is equal to the value of gross industrial output minus intermediate input costs such as raw materials and labor.