BEIJING - China's electronic information industry posted double-digit growth in output in the first quarter of this year.

The value-added output of major manufacturers of electronic information products expanded 12.5 percent year-on-year in the first three months, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

The growth was slower than the 14.9-percent increase in the same period of last year but faster than the country's overall industrial output growth.

In the first quarter, nearly 40 billion chips were manufactured, up 15.2 percent year-on-year. About 420 million mobile phones were produced, up 0.5 percent from a year earlier.

Fixed-asset investment in the industry rose 15.4 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, down 11.4 percentage points from a year earlier, the data showed.