China's industrial output rose 12.4 percent in the third quarter from a year ago, as the economy has seen a consolidated recovery in growth with massive government spending, official data showed Thursday.

The figure was up 8.7 percent year on year in the first nine months, 6.5 percentage points lower than that of a year ago, according to the data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) at a press conference.

Production of state-owned and state-holding enterprises was up 4.1 percent, and that of collective-owned businesses gained 7.9 percent. Output of enterprises involving overseas investment advanced 3.4 percent.

From January to August, the profits of major industrial producers were 1.67 trillion yuan (246.28 billion U.S. dollars), down 10.6 percent year on year, and 12.2 percentage points lower than the figure for the first five months.

Although industrial production has not returned to the level before the global economic crisis, overcapacity has become a prominent problem for such sectors as iron and steel-making as well as some chemical industries.

Zhao Jinping, a researcher with the Development Research Center of the State Council, or Cabinet, said the government had basically achieved its goal of stimulating domestic consumption, but fell short of its intention of industrial restructuring.

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said on Oct. 15 that China would fight "serious" excess production in the sectors of steel, cement, plate glass, coal-chemical industry, polycrystalline silicon and wind power equipment.

Such problems in sectors like electrolytic aluminum, ship manufacturing and soybean oil extraction were also "obvious," it said.

Zhao also noted some industries with high energy consumption and high pollution levels continued to operate despite repeated warns.

"More decisive efforts should be made to push industrial restructuring, otherwise the stimulus measures will not be sustainable," he said.

China's economy expanded by 8.9 percent in the third quarter, adding fresh hope of achieving its full-year target of 8 percent.

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