China's industry and information technology sector witnessed stable recovery in the first half of this year, despite a challenging period in the month of April. Lu Sirui has more.

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology says the added value of above-scale industries increased by 3.4 percent compared to last year. The growth in the first quarter alone was 6.5 percent.

The number dropped by 2.9 percent in April, but posted a 0.7 percent positive growth in May, followed by 3.9 percent in June.

TIAN YULONG Spokesperson, MIIT "We understand that the impact of the sluggish world economy and inflation will inevitably have an impact on global trade and supply chains. We expect challenges in the second half of this year and we will closely monitor the main indicators of the manufacturing industry, and establish a sound noticing system. We will also improve our policies to benefit more enterprises."

Officials say key industries are also growing. Automobile production, for example, reversed a drop of around 46 percent in April to an increase of around 28 percent in June.

Efforts have also been made to help small- and medium-sized companies to tide over the difficulties.

The added value of above-scale industrial SMEs increased by 3.7 percent year-on-year in the first half of this year.

LU SIRUI Beijing "Despite challenges of COVID-19, officials also say the sector has continued in industrial transformation and upgrading. Measures have been taken to improve green development and formulate low-carbon technology roadmaps for key industries. Lu Sirui, CGTN, Beijing."