BEIJING -- China's industrial value-added output rose 9.9 percent year-on-year in the first two months, down 1.5 percentage points from the same period last year, the National Bureau of Statistics said Saturday.

The pace was down 1.5 percentage points from the same period last year and down 0.4 percentage point from the growth rate in December 2012, the NBS said in a statement on its website.

In the first two months, China's heavy industries saw industrial output expand 10.2 percent year-on-year, while light industries registered a pace of 9.1 percent from a year earlier.

Value-added industrial 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.