BEIJING, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- China's industrial output maintained stable growth in July with structural improvement, official data showed Tuesday.

Industrial output expanded 6 percent year on year last month, with the growth rate level with that in June, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

In the first seven months of the year, industrial output increased 6.6 percent year on year, 0.1 percentage points lower than the January-June period.

On a monthly basis, industrial output in July increased 0.48 percent from June.

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 (about 2.9 million U.S. dollars).

A breakdown of the data showed the production and supply of electricity, thermal power, gas, and water reported the fastest growth at 9 percent among the three major sectors in July.

Manufacturing output rose 6.2 percent year on year, up 0.2 percentage points from June, according to the NBS data. The output of the mining sector climbed 1.3 percent, down 1.4 percentage points from June.

"The industrial production was stable, with better structure and efficiency," said NBS spokesperson Liu Aihua.

In the first seven months, high-tech manufacturing output expanded 11.6 percent year on year, outpacing the overall industrial output by 5 percentage points, Liu told a press conference. Equipment manufacturing and strategic emerging industries saw output gain 9 percent and 8.6 percent, respectively.

New products posted rapid expansion, while corporate profits maintained robust growth, according to Liu.

The output of new energy vehicles, industrial robots, and integrated circuits went up 68.6 percent, 21 percent, and 14.5 percent, respectively, in volume year on year in the January-July period, the NBS data showed.

In the first half, major industrial firms saw their combined profits increase 17.2 percent year on year, up 0.7 percentage points from the first five months of the year.

"The economy continued to operate in a reasonable range in July, extending the trend of overall steady growth with progress and a positive outlook," said Liu.