BEIJING, April 24 (Xinhua) -- China's National Bureau of Statistics has released the nation's output of major industrial products in first quarter.

    According to the bureau, the country produced 494.9 million tons of raw coal between January and March, a growth of 14.8 percent year-on-year. The total included 177.8 million tons produced in March, up 10.3 percent.

    The first quarter witnessed 46 million tons of crude oil pumped out nationwide, up 1.5 percent. Gasoline output reached 14.7 million tons, up 5.5 percent, kerosene output, 2.53 million tons, up 0.7 percent, and diesel oil output, 29.2 million tons, up four percent.

    China's industrial added value in the three-month period grew 18.3 percent over the same 2006 period, the bureau said.

    The growth was 1.6 percentage points higher year on year and 1.7 percentage points higher than all of 2006.

    Heavy industry grew by 19.6 percent, two percentage points higher than the same period of last year; and light industry by 15.6 percent, a rise of 0.9 percentage point.

    From January and March, 701.2 billion kw/h of electricity was generated nationwide, up 15.5 percent year-on-year. The total included 619.5 billion kw/h by thermal power facilities, up 17.1 percent, and 66.8 billion kw/h by hydropower facilities, up 6.3 percent.

    Over the three months, the country produced 137.5 million tons of iron ores, up 33.9 percent, and 108.5 million tons of pig iron, up 19.7 percent. The crude steel output amounted to 114.7 million tons, up 22.3 percent, while the rolled steel output increased by 26.2 percent to 126.3 million tons.

    The January-March period saw 5.61 million tons of 10 major kinds of nonferrous metals produced, including copper, aluminum, zinc, tin, lead and magnesium, up 30.8 percent. Production of motor vehicles jumped 22.3 percent to reach 2.25 million units, the statistical bureau said.

    The southernmost island province of Hainan ranked the first in the nation with an industrial growth of 46.5 percent. It was followed by north China's Inner Mongolia Region and southern Guangxi region.