A textile company resumes work in Zaozhuang, East China's Shandong province, on Feb 20, 2020. [Photo/sipaphoto.com]

China is capable of sustaining a relatively sound momentum in industrial development in the second half of this year, despite challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic and global economic downward pressure, said the nation's top industry regulator on Thursday.

Xin Guobin, vice-minister of industry and information technology, said the fundamentals of China's industrial economy remain good, and the long-term positive trend will not change due to short-term challenges.

His comments came after industrial output, a key gauge of industrial activity in the country, rose by 4.4 percent year-on-year in the second quarter of the year, compared with the 8.4 percent plunge in the first quarter due to the novel coronavirus epidemic, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed.

The policy to encourage auto consumption showed an obvious effect, with the growth of added value of the auto industry reaching 12.2 percent in May and 13.4 percent in June.