BEIJING (AP) — China's industrial output soared 17.5 percent in August over the year-earlier period, the government said Thursday, adding to signs economic growth is racing ahead despite authorities' efforts to cool the boom.
The August growth rate was slightly below the 18.5 percent rate reported for the first six months of the year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
Chinese leaders, worried that runaway growth could ignite a financial crisis, are trying to restrain China's expansion, which last quarter hit a rate of 11.9 percent.
The government has imposed taxes and other controls in an effort to rein in production of steel and other goods considered polluting or too energy-intensive.
The government reported this week that inflation rose to an 11-year high of 6.5 percent in August, while the trade surplus expanded by 33 percent over the same month last year.