The NBS said the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) had only limited impact on industrial production in general. China's industrial production maintained the momentum of rapid growth in April.

The April growth of industrial output was 2.3 percentage points lower than in the first quarter of the year, NBS figures showed.

The NBS said the slowdown was due to certain negative impacts of the SARS outbreak on the operation of industrial enterprises in some areas. It also attributed the slowdown to a higher comparison base in April last year, when industrial growth began to pick up quickly.

NBS figures showed industrial added value totaled 1.154 trillion yuan (US$140 billion) for the January-April period, a rise of 16.4 percent over the same period last year.

Exports of industrial products surged 28.8 percent year-on-yearin April, totaling 207 billion yuan (US$25 billion). The increase was just 1.4 percentage points lower than in the first quarter and less than one percentage point lower than in March.

(Xinhua News Agency May 15, 2003)