Growth of China's industrial output continued to pick up in May after hitting a six-year low in March and rebounding in April, pointing to tentative signs of improvement.

Industrial output grew 6.1% year-on-year in May, up from the 5.9-percent growth in April and 5.6-percent in March, the lowest monthly level since December of 2008, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced recently.

Manufacturing output rose 6.7%, while the textile industry saw output grow 8.0%. Growth for chemical materials and chemical products was 8.8%.

In the first five months, industrial output grew 6.2% year-on-year, the same growth rate as the January-April period. Industrial output, officially called industrial value added, is used to measure the activity of designated large enterprises with annual turnover of at least CNY 20 million (US$ 3.22 million).

Source: China Textile Leader Express