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Pictured here is a shopping mall in Hangzhou, China, on Sept. 9, 2024.

BEIJING — China's retail sales, industrial production and urban investment in August all grew slower than expected, according to National Bureau of Statistics data released Saturday.

Retail sales rose by 2.1% in August from a year ago, missing expectations of 2.5% growth among economists polled by Reuters. That was also slower than the 2.7% increase in July.

Online sales of physical goods rose by just under 1% in August from a year ago, according to CNBC calculations of official data.

Industrial production rose by 4.5% in August from a year ago, lagging the 4.8% growth forecast by Reuters. That also marked a slowdown from a 5.1% rise in July.

Despite the miss, industrial production still grew faster than retail sales, "reflecting the structural imbalance imbedded in China's economy, with stronger supply and weaker demand," said Darius Tang, associate director, corporates, at Fitch Bohua.

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