Worker sew sweaters at a workshop of a textile factory in Taiyuan, Shanxi province September 1, 2009.

The consumer price index fell 1.2% in August from a year earlier, a smaller drop than July's 1.8% decline, government data also showed. August was the seventh straight month the CPI has fallen from its year-earlier level. August's CPI decline was in line with the median forecast of a 1.3% fall in a Dow Jones Newswires survey of 18 economists.

Value-added industrial production expanded 12.3% in August from a year earlier, above the median 12% increase forecast by 15 economists polled earlier by Dow Jones Newswires.

The rate of growth was higher than July's 10.8% increase and was the fourth consecutive acceleration.

Urban fixed-asset investment between January and August rose 33.0% from a year earlier, in line with the 32.9% rise in the January-July period, according to the data issued by the National Bureau of Statistics.

The growth rate was higher than the survey's median estimate of a 32.5% increase.

China's retail sales rose 15.4% in August from a year earlier, accelerating a tad from July's 15.2% growth rate.