Industrial output grew 5.0 percent in May from a year earlier, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Friday.

In the first five months, industrial output increased six percent year on year, 0.2 percentage points slower than the rate in the first four months, according to NBS.

China's value-added industrial output is used to measure the output of large companies each with annual main business revenue of more than 20 million yuan (about 2.9 million U.S. dollars).

The output of the high-tech manufacturing sector surged 9.4 percent in May, 4.4 percentage points faster than the pace of overall industrial output growth.

The production of new energy vehicles and solar cells grew 16 percent and 9.9 percent, respectively.

The sub-indices for production and supplier delivery time came in at 51.7 and 50.9 respectively last month, above the boom-bust line of 50.

Friday's data also showed that China's consumption growth picked up pace in May with retail sales expanding 8.6 percent year on year, while fixed-asset investment grew 5.6 percent year on year in the first five months.

China's service industry continued steady expansion

The production index of the service sector increased by seven percent year on year in May, 0.4 percentage points slower than in April, NBS data showed.

Information transmission, software and information technology services expanded by 22.2 percent in May, while the leasing and business services grew 8.4 percent, both faster than the average growth rate in the service industry.

The sub-index measuring business activity services in May stood at 53.5 percent, continuing to stay above the boom-bust line of 50 and 0.2 percentage points higher than in April.

In the first five months, the production index of the service sector registered a 7.3-percent growth.

(With input from Xinhua)