Growth of China's industrial value-added output scaled back to 11.6 percent in the first quarter from last year's 14.4 percent, the National Bureau of Statistics said today, as it released key economic data.

By categories, power generation rose 7.1 percent, while outputs of rolled steel and cement climbed 6.5 percent and 7.3 percent, respectively. The production of auto remained flat from the previous year and ethylene saw a slight decline of 0.9 percent in the first quarter.

In Mach only, the output rose 11.9 percent, measured year on year, compared with an 11.4 percent year-on-year increase in the January-February period, data showed.

The NBS also said profits of Chinese industrial companies dropped 5.2 percent in the January-February period from a year earlier to 606 billion yuan. That compared with a 34.3 percent gain in the first two months of 2011.

China measures profits of only the largest industrial companies, or those with annual revenues above 20 million yuan (3.17 million U.S. dollars).