The scale of China's industrial economy has been growing steadily with new drivers fostered, according the latest national economic census data released by the country's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The released data showed that during the five-year period covered by the fifth national economic census, China added 785,000 legal entities of industrial enterprises, marking a growth of 22.7 percent, with the strategic emerging industry posing the fastest growth of 45 percent.

By the end of 2023, the numbers of China's new-generation information technology industries, high-end equipment manufacturing industries, and new material industries increased by 62.4 percent, 50.4 percent, and 48.5 percent, respectively, compared with 2018, the data also showed.

By the end of 2023, eastern regions had over 70.2 percent of the country's equipment manufacturing enterprises above the designated size, each with annual revenue from principal business reaching over 20 million yuan. In particular, the manufacturing industrial enterprises in the Yangtze River Economic Belt area were the major pillar, accounting for 51.9 percent of the total legal entities of the manufacturing enterprises above the designated size, according to the data.

During the five-year period of the fifth national economic census, China's industrial enterprises also increased research and development spending, the data showed.

Spending in this regard by industrial enterprises above the designated size posted an average annual growth of 10.1 percent, especially the spending by the big high-tech and equipment manufacturers, which grew at an average annual rate of over 11 percent, according to the data.