BEIJING, Sept. 15 -- China's value-added industrial output, an important economic indicator, went up 4.5 percent year on year in August, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed Friday.

From January to August, industrial output rose 3.9 percent year on year, according to the NBS.

Among the three major sectors, the mining sector and the manufacturing sector expanded by 2.3 percent and 5.4 percent, respectively, in August, while the production and supply of electricity, heat, gas and water rose 0.2 percent.

In a breakdown by ownership, the output of state-controlled companies, joint-equity firms, and private enterprises went up 5.2 percent, 5.7 percent and 3.4 percent year on year, respectively, last month.

In terms of products, the output of solar cells surged by 77.8 percent, while that of power units rose 32.4 percent.

The industrial output is used to measure the activity of enterprises each with an annual main business turnover of at least 20 million yuan (about 2.79 million U.S. dollars).