BEIJING - China's industrial value-added output grew 9.6 percent year on year in May after adjusted by inflation, the National Bureau of Statistics said Saturday.

On a month-on-month basis, industrial value-added output increased 0.89 percent and showed a year-on-year increase of 10.7 percent in the first five months.

The industrial value-added output of the heavy industry grew 9.8 percent year-on-year in May, and that of the light industry was up 9.1 percent, said the NBS.

Output of auto producers grew 18.5 percent while that of oil refiners dropped 0.7 percent.

The industrial output figure was the most soothing among a set of economic indicators for May released by the NBS on Saturday.

The growth of the country's fixed-asset investment weakened to 20.1 percent in the first five months, while growth of retail sales eased to 13.8 percent in May.

Growth in the world's second-largest economy eased to a three-year low of 8.1 percent in the first quarter due to waning exports, a sagging property market and a self-geared slowdown of investment.

Analysts warned that the better-than-expected industrial output in May could be short-lived, as the purchasing managers index (PMI), a readout of the country's manufacturing activity, ended five consecutive months of growth in May and retreated to 50.4 percent, according to the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP).

A PMI reading of 50 percent demarcates expansion from contraction.

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.