China’s industrial output rose at the weakest pace since the global financial crisis and fixed- asset investment growth trailed projections, adding to evidence the world’s second-biggest economy is losing momentum.

Factory production rose 6.9 percent from a year earlier in August, the National Bureau of Statistics said today in Beijing, compared with 9 percent in July and the 8.8 percent median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey. Retail sales gained 11.9 percent and fixed-asset investment in the January-August period increased 16.5 percent.

Today’s data add to risks that China’s third-quarter economic growth will drop below Premier Li Keqiang’s 2014 goal of about 7.5 percent after a measure of new credit released yesterday trailed estimates and August imports dropped. Li said this week that the government won’t rely on monetary stimulus to spur growth and the government will stick to targeted policies.

“Premier Li’s latest comments send the strongest signal so far that the government may not announce any broad-based easing in the near term despite weakening growth,” Chang Jian, chief China economist at Barclays Plc in Hong Kong, said in a note. “This suggests that activity will more likely slow in the coming quarters.”

China’s benchmark stock index rose 0.9 percent yesterday, resulting in a second weekly gain, as lower-than-estimated credit data spurred speculation the government will ease policies to support growth. The yuan declined 0.08 percent yesterday, paring its weekly advance to about 0.1 percent.

Economists’ Estimates

Industrial-output growth was below all 51 estimates in a Bloomberg survey, with projections ranging from 8.5 percent to 10 percent. It was the slowest single-month pace outside of the Lunar New Year holiday period of January and February since December 2008.

Growth in retail sales compared with the 12.1 percent median projection of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The median estimate for expansion in January-August fixed-asset investment excluding rural households was 16.9 percent, after a 17 percent gain in the first seven months.

In a speech at the World Economic Forum in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin on Sept. 10, Premier Li said the government won’t be distracted by short-term fluctuations in individual economic indicators and will maintain its focus on structural adjustments and dealing with long-term issues.

Growth slightly higher or lower than the 2014 target of 7.5 percent is acceptable as long as employment, incomes and environmental protection improve, he said.

Credit Gauge

Aggregate financing, China’s broadest measure of new credit that includes bank lending, corporate bond issuance and shadow- banking products like entrusted loans, was 957.4 billion yuan ($156 billion) in August, the People’s Bank of China said yesterday in Beijing. The number trailed analyst estimates and dropped from 1.58 trillion yuan a year earlier as the central bank extended a crackdown on shadow banking.

The data followed reports showing imports fell for a second straight month and manufacturing expansion slowed, increasing concern that domestic demand is flagging. Data from SouFun Holdings Ltd., operator of an online real-estate portal, showed home prices fell for a fourth month in August, based on a survey of 100 cities.