China's industrial output sustained stable growth in July with booming new growth drivers and strong exports.

The country's value-added industrial output, an important economic indicator, expanded 5.1% year on year in July, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed Thursday, according to state news agency Xinhua.

On a monthly basis, the industrial output edged up 0.35% in July from the previous month.

The industrial output measures the activity of enterprises each with an annual main business turnover of at least 20 million yuan (about US$ 2.8 million).

Addressing a press conference, NBS spokesperson Liu Aihua said that 80% of industries and nearly 60%of products registered year-on-year increases.

The equipment manufacturing sector contributed 2.4 percentage points to the entire industrial output growth, she said, adding that new growth drivers for the manufacturing sector are being strengthened.

In the first six months, the combined profits of major industrial enterprises rose 3.5% year on year to 3.51 trillion yuan, the NBS data showed.