Tokyo | China posted stronger-than-expected retail sales and industrial production data for August, in the first signs the world’s second-largest economy is stabilising after months of slowdown that is holding back global growth.

In the first evidence so far that the Chinese government’s modest stimulus measures could be working, industrial production rose 4.5 per cent in August from a year earlier, far exceeding expectations, while the urban jobless rate held steady. The factory output figure beat forecasts for 3.9 per cent growth and was well above the July figure of 3.7 per cent.