Indicators Show China¡¯s Economy Breathing Easier

With the central government pumping big money into the economy, as much as 100 billion yuan by the end of 2008, indicators ranging from industrial production to credit show a slowing of the recent economic slide. Expectations are building for Plan B.

Signs of bottoming in manufacturing sector

Signals of economic easing emerged in December, as power consumption and some sales began to rise and inventory stocks were decreasing. 

China¡¯s Purchasing Manager Index (PMI) released in January showed a 2.4 percentage point rebound. Among sub-indicators, those for production, new orders and purchasing prices rose significantly, showing downward pressure in the manufacturing sector was being relieved.

Prices for producer goods continued to decrease in December, according to China Logistics Information Center figures, but due to stabilizing prices for steel and raw chemical materials, the fall was slowing, and prices for some products had reached bottom and begun to rebound.

Power consumption up

Industrial power consumption reveals the degree of activity in manufacturing. According to the China Electricity Council, in December, total power consumption reached 0.27 trillion kwh, a drop of 6.5% year on year, but 6.8% higher than in November.

Credit scale growing rapidly

Another important indicator, commercial banks¡¯ new lending, also grew rapidly in December.

Financial firms¡¯ new loans reached 740 billion yuan in December, the highest monthly increase since January last year.

Copyright and Exemption Declaration :¢ÙAll articles, pictures and videos that are marked with "China Aluminum Network" on this website are copyright and belong to China Aluminium Network (www.alu.com.cn). When transshipment, any media, website or individual must list the source from "China Aluminium Network (www.alu.com.cn)". We seek legal actions against anyone that disobey this. ¢ÚArticles that marked as copy from others are for transferring more information to readers, do not represent or endorse their opinions or accuracy and reliability. When other media, website or individuals copy from our website, must keep the source. Anyone that changes the articles' sources will hold the responsibilities for copyright and law problems. We also seek legal actions against anyone that disobey this. ¢ÛIf any articles copied by our website concern the copyright and other problems, please contact us within one week.