BEIJING, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- China's industrial output expanded 6 percent in the first three quarters of 2016, thanks largely to strong performance in the high-tech and equipment manufacturing sectors, official data showed Wednesday.

The growth rate was unchanged from that posted for the first half of the year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced.

Industrial output, officially called industrial value added, is used to measure the activity of designated large enterprises with annual turnover of at least 20 million yuan (2.97 million U.S. dollars).