Chinese economy maintains overall stability in August: NBS

China's economy maintained overall stability in August, with steady progress, according to data released on Monday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

NBS data showed that industrial output grew 5.2 percent year on year in August. Among them, equipment manufacturing increased by 8.1 percent and high-tech manufacturing surged 9.3 percent. 

The consumer market has also achieved steady growth. Retail sales surpassed 3.96 trillion yuan ($557 billion), marking a 3.4-percent increase. Online retail sales remained a bright spot, climbing 9.6 percent year on year to 9.98 trillion yuan in the first eight months, the NBS data showed.

Additionally, fixed-asset investment sustained growth in the first eight months, with total investment increasing 0.5 percent year on year to over 32.61 trillion yuan.

Foreign trade volume continued to expand, with a year-on-year growth of 3.5 percent in August, reaching 3.87 trillion yuan.

Meanwhile, residential housing prices in China's 70 large and medium-sized cities continued to see narrowed year-on-year declines in August. The prices of new commercial residential properties in first-tier cities decreased by 0.9 percent year on year, a smaller decline than the 1.1 percent drop recorded in July, while the prices of second-hand residential dropped by 3.5 percent year on year.