BEIJING -- A slowdown in China's economy has weighed on the machinery industry, weakening industrial activity, slashing orders and eroding enterprises' profitability, an industry association said Monday.

The industrial value-added output of the sector, which accounts for nearly 20 percent of the country's total industrial production, rose?9 percent year-on-year in the first six months of the year, sharply down from a 16.2-percent increase registered last year, said Cai Weici, vice-president of the China Machinery Industry Federation.

Orders at major machinery enterprises dipped 0.95 percent in the first half of the year, compared to rises of more than 20 percent registered in the same period over the last few years, Cai said.

He said this year will likely be the toughest year for the industry since the outbreak of the global financial crisis in 2008.

According to the federation, global and domestic economic difficulties had driven 16.38 percent of the country's machinery enterprises into the red as of the end of May, 3.82 percentage points higher than one year earlier.

China's economy grew 7.6 percent in the second quarter this year, the lowest rate since the global recession. Its growth eased to 6.6 percent in the first quarter of 2009 before a massive government stimulus package provided double-digit growth.