(Corrects to say retail sales slows, not slump, in headline) BEIJING, Oct 20 (Reuters) – China's industrial output grew 6.5% year-on-year in September, accelerating from a 5.2% increase in August, while retail sales growth softened, official data showed on Monday. The industrial output data, released by the National Bureau of Statistics, beat expectations for a 5.0% gain in a Reuters poll. Retail sales, a gauge of consumption, expanded 3.0% in September after growing 3.4% in August, matching a forecast rise of 3.0%. Fixed asset investment shrank 0.5% in the first nine months compared with the same period last year, versus 0.5% growth in the January-to-August period and an expected 0.1% expansion. (Reporting by Kevin Yao, Joe Cash and Yukun Zhang; Editing by Tom Hogue)
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