BEIJING, July 16 (Xinhua) -- China's value-added industrial output, an important economic indicator, expanded 6.7 percent year on year in the first half of 2018, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Monday.

The growth rate was 0.2 percentage points lower than that recorded in the first five months.

Industrial output, officially called industrial value added, is used to measure the activity of certain large enterprises with an annual revenue of at least 20 million yuan (about 3.03 million U.S. dollars).

Ownership analysis showed that industrial output of state-holding enterprises and share-holding firms both went up 6.1 percent in June. Meanwhile, industrial output of enterprises funded by overseas investors increased 5.4 percent.

Manufacturing output expanded 6 percent year on year in June, while mining output growth rose 2.7 percent year on year.

In terms of regional growth, in June, east China reported industrial added value growth of 4.1 percent. Central China posted a growth of 7.5 percent, with 7 percent growth for west China, and 5.9 for northeast of China.

"In the first half year, China's economy posted stable performance with good momentum for growth," NBS spokesperson Mao Shengyong told a press conference.

The industrial output figures were released by the NBS along with a slew of other major economic indicators for the first six months, including retail sales and fixed-asset investment.

China's gross domestic product expanded 6.8 percent year on year in the first half of 2018, the NBS data showed.

The pace was well above the government's annual growth target of around 6.5 percent, extending a steady expansion.

In the second quarter, China's GDP rose solidly by 6.7 percent year on year, slightly lower than the 6.8 percent in the previous quarter but representing the 12th straight quarter that the GDP growth rate has stayed within the range of 6.7 to 6.9 percent, according to the NBS data.