China's industrial output in the first quarter of the year jumped 18.3 percent over the same 2006 period, a government spokesman said Thursday.

The growth was 1.6 percentage points higher year on year and 1.7 percentage points higher than all of 2006, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) spokesman Li Jianchao told the press.

Heavy industry grew by 19.6 percent, two percentage points higher than the same period of last year; and light industry by 15.6 percent, a rise of 0.9 percentage point.

The production of electricity was up 15.5 percent, and that of coal was up 14.8 percent. The output of steel products rose by 26.2 percent.

Handset production grew 35.3 percent. Auto output was up 22.3 percent with sedans up 32.1 percent.

The first three months saw the industrial profits grew drastically. Enterprises with a sales revenue exceeding five million yuan registered a profit totaling 293.2 billion yuan, up 43.8 percent, 22 percentage points higher than the increase at the same time last year.

These enterprises sold 97.1 percent of their products in the first quarter, down 0.07 percentage point against the same time last year.

Among the 39 industries, 35 witnessed profit growth. Steel, power, chemical, transportation facility manufacturing and oil refining industries were the fastest-growing.

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