BEIJING, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- China's industrial sector maintained upward momentum and saw continuous improvements in the quality of growth in the first three quarters of this year.

The country's value-added industrial output rose by 6.2 percent year on year from January to September, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday.

In September alone, the industrial output expanded 6.5 percent year on year, accelerating from a 5.2-percent rise in August.

The industrial output is used to measure the activity of large enterprises, each with an annual main business turnover of at least 20 million yuan (about 2.82 million U.S. dollars).

A breakdown of the data showed that the manufacturing sector's value-added output increased by 7.3 percent year on year last month, while that of mining grew by 6.4 percent. The value-added output of the electricity, heat, gas, and water production and supply sector rose by 0.6 percent.

According to Wang Xin, an official with the NBS, the industrial sector still faces challenges such as weak effective demand and subdued corporate profitability.

In the next phase, Wang said, China will intensify efforts to build a new development paradigm, accelerate the commercialization of scientific research outcomes, and expand high-quality supply, fostering new drivers for domestic demand and bolstering the foundation for stable industrial expansion.

Monday's data also showed that China's GDP grew 5.2 percent year on year in the first three quarters. Enditem