China’s economic activity gathered pace in August amid a summer travel boom and in the wake of a stimulus push. Industrial production rose 4.5% from a year earlier while retail sales jumped 4.6%, the National Bureau of Statistics said Friday. Both figures significantly exceeded economists’ estimates and were above the gains recorded in July. Fixed-asset investment grew 3.2% in the first eight months of the year from the same period in 2022, slower than in the January-to-July period as the property sector remained a drag. The urban jobless rate was 5.2% in August, slightly lower than the previous month.