BEIJING - China's machinery industry maintained moderate growth last year despite downward economic pressure, propped by increased trade surplus and private firms performing well, data released by the China Machinery Industry Federation (CMIF) showed on Monday.

The data suggested a slow but steady recovery from a previous plunge in the sector, as the upgrading of products and industrial structure furthered in 2013.

The sector's revenues from main business totaled 20.4 trillion yuan ($3.34 trillion) last year, up 13.8 percent year on year and growing slightly faster than the 2012 pace, a research note from the CMIF said.

The figure marked a new record by surpassing the 20-trillion-yuan mark for the first time, indicating that China has reinforced its position as one of the world's major manufacturers against the dampened global economy.

The CMIF's vice president Cai Weici, however, downplayed the significance of the rising revenue, but cared more about quality and profitability.

Aggregate profits across the sector increased 15.6 percent year on year to 1.41 trillion yuan. The growth rate was over 10 percentage points higher than that of 2012, the note said.

According to Cai, the increase stems from the country's top-down strategy including industrial structural adjustment and the upgrading of products, the effect of which was taking shape.

Technological innovations were widely made by domestic enterprises to achieve leverages such as attractive prices and quality amid fierce competition. High-end equipment with self-owned technology was developed in 2013.

Along with the increase in profits, machinery exports also went up. Exports appeared to be an effective way for the sector to absorb overcapacity, and for enterprises to take piling stock off hands.

The sector exported products worth $372.5 billion in 2013, up 6.24 percent from the previous year, with the trade surplus hitting $73.6 billion, which was the largest on record.

The note attributed it to the spectacular performance made by China's private machinery enterprises that began to attach greater importance to the overseas market as domestic demand dawdled.

In 2013, private companies' total profits earned from main business jumped 15.4 percent to 11.6 trillion yuan, above the cross-sector growth rate. Their output in value accounted for over half of the total industrial output of the sector.

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