China Manufacturing Index Beats Estimates as Output Rises

Chinese manufacturing growth beat analyst estimates in November, indicating the nation’s economic recovery is sustaining momentum amid government efforts to rein in credit growth.

The Purchasing Managers’ Index was 51.4, the National Bureau of Statistics and China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said yesterday. That’s the same reading as October, which was an 18-month high, and exceeded 24 out of 26 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. A number above 50 signals expansion.

Stability in manufacturing growth in the world’s second-biggest economy may give Premier Li Keqiang more room to implement policy changes laid out after a Communist Party meeting last month. While industrial investment is picking up and retail sales have increased 13 percent so far this year, China faces headwinds that include industrial overcapacity, excessive corporate debt and slower export demand.

“Momentum seems to be quite stable at the moment so policy makers can be quite relaxed,” said Wang Tao, chief China economist at UBS AG in Hong Kong. “If anything, growth in the fourth quarter is not going to weaken as much as many people had expected,” Wang said, with “robust” production momentum and expanding domestic and export orders “pointing to pretty stable growth ahead.”

China’s benchmark Shanghai Composite Index  of stocks rose 3.7 percent in November, the biggest monthly gain since August, on optimism that the reform package outlined by Communist Party leaders on Nov. 15 will bolster the economy and corporate earnings.

(Source: Bloomberg)