China's industrial capacity utilization rate stood at 76.5 percent in the third quarter of 2018, slightly down from 76.8 percent a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Saturday.

The utilization rate in the first nine months was 76.6 percent, flat from the same period of 2017, the NBS said in a statement.

The slight drop in Q3 was in line with the slowdown in industrial output growth and slower economic growth.

NBS data showed Friday that China's value-added industrial output expanded 5.8 percent in September, the slowest pace this year.

China's economy expanded 6.5 percent in Q3, down from 6.8 percent in Q1 and 6.7 percent in Q2. Growth in the first three quarters stood at 6.7 percent, above the government's annual target of around 6.5 percent.