August Industrial Output Growth Slows

China's industrial production rose 17.5 percent in August, slowing for a second month after the government increased taxes on exports. The increase was down from an 18 percent gain in July.The slowdown may be insufficient to deter the central bank from raising interest rates for a fifth time this year after inflation surged to an almost 11-year high and the trade surplus widened to the second-highest on record.

China's trade surplus widened 33 percent in August from a year earlier to $24.97 billion.

Foreign direct investment in China climbed 12.8 percent through August from a year earlier. Spending rose to $41.9 billion, the Ministry of Commerce said today at a briefing in Beijing. The pace slowed from a 12.9 percent increase in the first seven months. For August alone, investment jumped 11.9 percent to $5.1 billion.

China was the world's fourth-largest recipient of foreign direct investment in 2006 after the U.S., U.K. and France according to the United Nations. Spending by overseas companies climbed 4.5 percent from a year earlier to $63 billion. Including the financial industry, investment fell 4.1 percent to $70 billion.

Disposable incomes among urban households climbed 14.2 percent in the first half from a year earlier.