According to data from the National Statistics Authority of China, the figure also reflected a 1.4 percent drop compared to the final quarter of 2022.

Capacity utilization rate refers to the ratio of actual output to production capacity.

The higher the rate, the better, as it indicates that an economy is producing in accordance with its resources.

The NSAC data further revealed that the mining sector’s utility rate reached 75.2 percent in the first quarter of 2023, taking a 1.8 percent dip compared to the year-ago period.

Meanwhile, the utilization rate of power, heat, gas and water production and supply industries fell from 1.9 percent to 71.9 percent during the period under review.

Similarly, the manufacturing sector stood at 74.5, down 1.4 percent from the first quarter of 2022.

However, China’s manufacturing activity expanded at the fastest pace in over a decade in February, an official index showed, smashing expectations as production zoomed after the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions late last year, Reuters reported.

According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics, the manufacturing purchasing managers’ index shot up to 52.6 from 50.1 in January, above the 50-point mark that separates expansion and contraction in activity.

The PMI exceeded an analyst forecast of 50.5 and was the highest reading since April 2012.

The world’s second-largest economy recorded one of its worst years in nearly half a century in 2022 due to strict COVID-19 lockdowns and subsequent widespread infections.

Official data showed that China grew by 3 percent in 2022, less than half the previous year’s 8.1 percent rate.

The curbs were abruptly lifted in December as the highly transmissible omicron spread nationwide.