China's industrial output growth accelerated in August, government statistics showed Tuesday, exceeding expectations in an encouraging sign for the world's second-largest economy.

Industrial output, which measures production at the country's factories and mines, rose 6.3 percent year-on-year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said, faster than July's 6.0 percent and above the median forecast of 6.2 percent in a Bloomberg News poll of economists.

Retail sales rose 10.6 percent in August, the NBS said, also ahead of expectations and the July figure, while fixed asset investment was up 8.1 percent in the first eight months of the year.