BEIJING - China's industrial output expanded 6.6 percent in 2017, accelerating from 6 percent growth in 2016, official data showed Thursday.

The strong performance is largely attributed to the sharp growth of new manufacturing sectors such as industrial robots, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

New-energy vehicles, industrial robots, solar power and integrated circuit outshone most other industries in terms of output in 2017, growing 51.1 percent, 68.1 percent, 38 percent and 18.2 percent, respectively, year on year.

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 $3.1 million).