China’s industrial production rose 10.4 per cent in August year-on-year, the government says, its fastest increase for more than a year in another positive sign for the world’s second-largest economy.

The figure showed the most rapid increase in industrial production, a key indicator which measures output at factories, workshops and mines, since March 2012.

The finding was ahead of market expectations, with the median forecast in a poll of 11 economists by Dow Jones Newswires predicting a rise of 9.9 per cent.

Output also rose 9.5 per cent over the first eight months of this year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Tuesday.

Retail sales, a key indicator of consumer spending, rose 13.4 per cent in August compared with the same month last year, it said, just ahead of expectations of 13.2 per cent in the same poll.

They increased 12.8 per cent in the first eight months of the year, the NBS added.

Fixed asset investment, a measure of government spending on infrastructure, increased 20.3 per cent during the first eight months of this year compared with the same period in 2012, the NBS said. The figure was a fraction ahead of expectations of 20.2 per cent.