BEIJING — The electronic manufacturing sector led China's industrial upgrade in the first half of the year, expanding 13.9 percent year-on-year in terms of industrial output, official data showed Thursday.

The growth rate was 7 percentage points higher than the country's average growth of industrial production.

The faster growth can be attributed to the good performance of large enterprises in the first six months, said Qu Weizhi, deputy president of China Information Technology Industry Federation (CITIF).

During the first half, the country's top 100 electronic manufacturing companies made fresh attempts in intelligent manufacturing, research and development as well as internationalized management, upgrading from traditional to high-end manufacturing.

By the end of 2016, the number of patent applications for inventions filed by the top 100 electronic manufacturing companies stood at 189,000, accounting for over 60 percent of their total patent applications, according to figures from the CITIF.

Qu said the electronic manufacturing sector will continue to lead the country's industrial upgrade and create a platform for start-ups and innovation by the public.

Profit growth at China's major industrial firms gathered pace in June on strong sales and retreating material costs, according to official data.

Industrial companies with annual revenue of more than 20 million yuan (about $2.97 million) reported about 727.8 billion yuan in profits last month, up 19.1 percent year-on-year.

The pace was faster than the 16.7 percent rate registered in May.

In the first half of the year, major industrial firms reported profits of 3.63 trillion yuan, a 22 percent increase from the same period last year.

Although the profit growth slowed from 22.7 percent in the January-May period, it far exceeded the 8.5 percent increase in 2016.