BEIJING, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- China's industrial output expanded 6.2 percent year on year in 2018, slowing from 6.6-percent growth in 2017, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Monday.

Industrial structure continued to improve last year, with production in high-tech industries, strategic emerging industries and equipment manufacturing sector expanding by 11.7 percent, 8.9 percent and 8.1 percent, respectively.

Output of railway passenger cars saw a surge of 183 percent year on year in 2018, while new energy vehicles jumped by 40.1 percent, NBS data showed.

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 3 million U.S. dollars).