China Data Shows Economy Accelerated in August
By wchung | 15 Mar, 2026

August economic data shows that China grew at a higher-than-expected rate in fixed asset investment, industrial production, retail sales and new loans, giving hope to investors that the global recovery is progressing at a steadier pace than feared.

China’s industrial value-added output growth accelerated to 13.9% year on year in August from July’s 13.4% growth, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data showed.

The rebound was the first sign of accelerating growth in industrial value-added output this year after seven consecutive months of decreases in the wake of cooling measures that curbed bank lending to energy-intensive industries and the property market.

“It is a good result,” the NBS spokesman Sheng Laiyun said, adding the August output data was a mild rebound from the 13.4% growth in July and 13.7%growth in June, suggesting China’s industrial production is stabilizing from the unnervingly explosive growth of the first five months of the year.

Retail sales growth accelerated to 18.4% in August. Urban fixed asset investment also maintained a strong growth in the first eight months, up 24.8% from a year earlier.

Unexpected acceleration in China’s imports last month pointed to strong domestic demand. Exports grew 34.4% year on year in August, slowing from July’s 38.1% surge, while imports rose 35.2% in August, sharply up from the 22.7% increase in July, according to Friday’s customs data.

China’s broad money supply (M2), which covers cash in circulation and all deposits, increased 19.2% year on year by the end of August, up 1.6% from the end of July. The rebound from July indicated that China’s economic slowdown was not as rapid as expected, said Liu Yuhui, economist with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

“The overall economy is stable and sound. It is heading in the direction expected and as set by the government’s macro-economic controls,” Sheng said.

Earlier figures had showed a GDP growth rate of 11.1% year on year in the first half, representing a decline from 11.9% growth rate in the first three months the year to 10.3% in the second quarter,

BEIJING (China Daily)