Strong domestic buying and exports underpinned growth in China's industrial output to 16.2 percent in the first two months of 2006, over the same period a year earlier.

The value-added output for state-owned and large non-state enterprises totaled 1.11 trillion yuan ( US$137 billion dollars), said the National Bureau of Statistics.

Exports of industrial products rose 24.2 percent in January and February from a year earlier, the bureau said. Sedan output jumped 83.1 percent in the two months, reflecting the importance of the auto industry for the economy as a whole.

Enterprises were able to sell 96.99 percent of their output, down 0.28 percentage points from a year ago.

The growth in the first two months of this year compared with a 16.9-percent rise in industrial output in the first two months of last year.

Figures for the individual months were not released. For some statistics, China publishes the combined figures for the first two months of the year to minimize the distortion of the week-long lull brought about by the Lunar New Year, which usually falls in either January or February.

This year, the holiday began in late January and continued into February.

Industrial output for the whole of 2005 increased 11.4 percent but the figure is not comparable as it includes small, non-state enterprises' production.

Editor: Yan