Beijing: China’s economy is closing out the year on a high note as the earliest December indicators show no sign expansion is faltering after three straight quarters of 6.7 percent growth.
Large and small firms reported stronger momentum, private surveys show. The mood among executives was the best since August 2014. Sales managers had a stable outlook, even as conditions at factories and steelmakers edged down.
Two years of monetary easing and fiscal stimulus have helped the world’s second-largest economy prove bears wrong. The expansion picked up to about 7 percent last month, according to a monthly tracker from Bloomberg Intelligence.
Policy makers this month pledged prudent and neutral monetary policy and greater focus on deflating asset bubbles as they work to ensure stability in the lead up to a key party congress late next year.
A report Tuesday showed industrial profit gains accelerated in November, led by raw material producers, as prices of products such as coal and metals continued to advance. Earnings rose 14.5 percent in November from a year earlier, the statistics bureau said.
Standard Chartered Plc’s SME Confidence Index rose to an eight-month high of 56.1 this month from 55 in November.
Numbers above 50 indicate improving conditions. While credit conditions improved, a gauge of expectations weakened, Shen Lan, a Beijing-based China economist, wrote in a report. Companies expect the yuan to keep falling.
"Sales accelerated in December, boosting production activity," wrote Shen, who projects 6.8 percent growth this year. "The momentum may not be sustainable, however."
The mood among executives improved, according to the Market News International China Business Sentiment Indicator, which rose to a two-year high of 55.9.
