China's manufacturing sector maintained steady growth in the first quarter of 2025, according to the latest value-added tax invoice data released by the State Taxation Administration.

In the first quarter, sales revenue in high-tech manufacturing rose by 12.1 percent year-on-year, 3.1 percentage points higher than the same period last year, according to the data.

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Sales revenue in equipment manufacturing grew by 9.7 percent, with the growth rate accelerating by 3.5 percentage points from a year earlier.

In the first quarter, sales revenue in digital product manufacturing rose by 12 percent year-on-year, while spending by manufacturing firms on digital technologies increased by 8.7 percent year-on-year.

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Sales revenue in smart equipment manufacturing rose by 13.2 percent year-on-year, according to the data.

Sales revenue for energy-intensive manufacturing accounted for 29.2 percent of that for the total manufacturing in the first quarter, down 1.4 percentage points from the same period last year.

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The data points to continued acceleration in the transformation and upgrading of China's manufacturing sector toward higher-end, smarter and greener development, highlighting steady and improved growth in the industry.