BEIJING, April 17 (Xinhua) -- China's industrial output, an important economic indicator, expanded 6.5 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2019, official data showed Wednesday.

The growth rate came in 1.2 percentage points higher than that recorded in the January-February period, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

In March alone, industrial output increased 8.5 percent year on year, a record-high since July 2014, up 3.2 percentage points from the January-February period.

The industrial production saw faster growth in the first quarter, with more presence of high-tech industries, the NBS said in a statement.

Industrial output, officially called industrial value added, is used to measure the activity of designated large enterprises with annual turnover of at least 20 million yuan (about 2.9 million U.S. dollars).