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)
