In December 2008, China's light industry enjoyed an output growth of 8.1 percent year-on-year, which sharply outpaced the 4.7 percent growth of heavy industry.

The latest statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics show that the output of state-owned enterprises suffered a decline. In December, state-owned and state-controlled enterprises witnessed an output drop of 0.6 percent, while that of private enterprises went up 16.3 percent, overseas-funded enterprises was up 0.3 percent.

According to the statistics, in December the country produced 219.9 million tonnes of coal, down 1.3 percent year-on-year; the output of crude oil was 15.7 million tonnes, up 0.4 percent; crude steel fell 10.5 percent to 37.79 million tonnes; and motor vehicles dropped 18.9 percent to 685,700 sets.

In December, China's industrial output grew 5.7 percent, or 0.3 percentage points faster than the previous month.

(Xinhua News Agency January 25, 2009)