China's industrial output rose 17.5 percent in August, the
National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Thursday.
The latest figure indicated a slight decrease in the growth of
China's monthly industrial output, compared with 18 percent in July
and 19.4 percent in June.
Over the first eight months of the year, industrial output
increased by 18.4 percent from a year earlier, while it expanded by
18.5 percent in the first seven months.
The bureau said more than 98 percent of the industrial products
were sold in August, 0.28 percentage points lower than the same
period of last year.
The manufacturing of transportation equipment enjoyed the
highest growth rate at 28.4 percent in August, up from 26.6 percent
the previous month, according to the NBS.
Official data showed that about 660,000 vehicles were produced
last month, up 21.7 percent, while the production of passenger cars
rose 17.1 percent to 370,000.
The value of goods delivered for export by major Chinese
enterprises continued to rise, up 20.1 percent year-on-year to
reach 617.8 billion yuan (US$82.2 billion) in August, but lower
than the 22.2-percent growth in July.
The output of coal in August was about the same as in July at
194 million tons, and its year-on-year growth rate slowed down from
12.7 percent in July to 8.2 percent last month.
Power generation capacity increased by 15 percent to 299 billion
kilowatt hours. Oil production picked up to grow by 2.3 percent to
15.91 million tons, instead of a fall of 1.7 percent in July.
The production of steel products continued to maintain a high
growth rate at 23.7 percent, with an output of 48.27 million tons
in August.
Chinese retail sales in August rose 17.1 percent year-on-year to
reach 711.7 billion yuan (US$94.6 billion), up from 16.4 percent
the previous month, according to statistics released by the bureau
a day earlier.
China's trade surplus hit US$24.98 billion in August, the second
highest monthly figure this year after a record US$26.91 billion in
June.
Another major economic barometer - the consumer price index
(CPI)- went up by 6.5 percent in August, the highest monthly rise
in 11 years, on food price hikes compared with the same period of
last year, said the bureau.
China's money supply rose 18.09 percent last month compared with
August last year, but the growth rate was lower than the 18.48
percent recorded in July, the country's central bank said on
Wednesday.
It earlier warned in its second-quarter monetary report that
China's economy remained on the brink of overheating following
another 12 months of soaring industrial output and money
supply.
The World Bank on Wednesday raised its forecast for China's 2007
economic growth to 11.3 percent from an earlier 10.4 percent, and
said the country's macroeconomic prospects were still good.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said in a speech at the Summer Davos
forum that the government should "give top priority to
macro-regulation to prevent an already fast growing economy from
becoming overheated".
The government has taken various measures to ease liquidity and
prevent the economy from overheating, such as the planned issuance
of 1.55-trillion-yuan special treasury bonds.
(Xinhua News Agency September 13, 2007)
