BEIJING - China's industrial value-added output growth decelerated in 2011 from a year earlier to 13.9 percent year-on-year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said at a press conference Tuesday.

The full-year figure was down 1.8 percentage points from the growth rate of 2010, according to Ma Jiantang, chief of the NBS.

In December, the industrial value-added output was up 12.8 percent from a year earlier. On a monthly basis, industrial value-added output increased by 1.1 percent, said Ma.

Industrial value-added output measures the final output value of industrial production, or the value of gross industrial output minus intermediate input, such as raw materials and labor costs.

China's industrial profits grew 24.4 percent year-on-year to 4.66 trillion yuan in the first 11 months of 2011, according to the NBS.

Industrial value-added output increased 11.7 percent in China's eastern regions, by 18.2 percent in central areas and by 16.8 percent in western parts of the country.

For heavy industries, industrial value-added output in 2011 was up 14.3 percent year-on-year, and that for light industries climbed 13 percent.

China's economy expanded by 9.2 percent in 2011 from a year earlier and 8.9 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter.