(Photo/Xinhua)

Despite complex domestic and international environment, China’s manufacturing sector registered sound growth in the first six months of this year, a senior official said.

The value-added output of the sector expanded 6.4 percent year-on-year in the first half, Xin Guobin, vice-minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, told a recent press conference.

That was a good performance considering the country is adjusting its overall economic structure amid the ongoing China-U.S. trade dispute.

The added value of the equipment manufacturing sector grew by 6 percent in the January-June period, and the electronics manufacturing sector rose by 9.6 percent year-on-year.

During this period, value-added output from high-tech and strategic emerging manufacturing industries jumped 9 percent and 7.7 percent, respectively, or 2.6 and 1.3 percentage points faster than that of the whole manufacturing sector.

The sector witnessed some bright spots in investment growth amid sluggish manufacturing investment.

Shanghai and Suzhou in east China’s Jiangsu province saw an industrial investment growth of about 17 percent and 13.2 percent, respectively, in the first six months, Xin noted, adding that investment in biomedicine, green chemicals, and automobile manufacturing in Shanghai increased by nearly 50 percent.

These figures predicate a sound foundation for the manufacturing sector’s development as the two cities are considered to be the barometer of China’s industrial development, Xin said.

Data also showed manufacturing investment for technological upgrades expanded 13.1 percent from the previous year in the January-June period.