China's industrial production rose 17.5 percent in August from a year earlier, slowing for a second month after the government increased taxes on exports.

The slowdown, some analysts say, may be insufficient to deter the central bank from raising interest rates for a fifth time this year after inflation surged to an almost 11-year high and the trade surplus widened. The bank must also confront surging property prices and stocks, fueled in part by record export income.

"The economy still risks overheating as inflation accelerates and asset bubbles get bigger," said Paul Tang, chief economist at Bank of East Asia Ltd in Hong Kong.