Manufacturing maintains growth arc

July 2, 2009

CHINESE manufacturing continued its growth momentum for the fourth straight month in June, reinforcing optimism that an economic recovery may be under way, two surveys showed yesterday.
The official Purchasing Managers Index, compiled by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing as a measure of the nation’s manufacturing activities, reached 53.2 last month following a reading of 53.1 in May and 53.5 in April.
The figure has been above 50 – the threshold denoting expansion – for four consecutive months.
In addition, the brokerage firm CLSA said yesterday its China PMI rose to 51.8 in June from 51.2 in May, the highest level since July last year and the third straight month for the index to record growth.
“After softening slightly in May, China’s official PMI improved again last month and showed sequential economic expansion. We take it as a signal that the green shoots of economic recovery have strengthened and are likely to blossom in the second half of 2009,” said Wang Qing, a Morgan Stanley economist.
“Continuity of accommodative monetary and financial conditions and follow-through in the implementation of the fiscal stimulus package should bring about robust growth in GDP in the second half of this year,” Wang said. “In addition, private investment will likely catch up, as the recovery in property sales remains strong and industrial profits recently registered significant improvement.”
Eric Fishwick, head of Economic Research at CLSA, said the PMI increases confirmed that growth was solidifying in manufacturing.
“Further improvement in export orders is a surprise, and domestic demand for manufacturing should continue to grow, as policy and the upturn in residential construction are gaining traction,” Fishwick said.
Both Wang and Fishwick expect the PMI to continue expanding in the coming months.
The production index under the official PMI strengthened to 57.1 in June from 56.9 in May, supported mainly by domestic demand, with new orders standing at 55.5 last month.
Economists said the decline in China’s exports should bottom out soon as new export orders reflected in the PMI rose to 51.4 in June, from 50.1 in May when they first entered expansionary territory.
The employment figure climbed back above 50 for the first time since last September, hitting 50.1 in June from 49.9 a month earlier, implying the country’s job-protection and creation policy is working.
China’s gross domestic product grew 6.1 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, the weakest pace since at least 1992. Economists generally expect better performance when second-quarter results are posted later this month.
The main concern is weak external demand. China’s exports fell 26.4 percent in May from a year earlier, a record low in at least 14 years.
CHINESE manufacturing continued its growth momentum for the fourth straight month in June, reinforcing optimism that an economic recovery may be under way, two surveys showed yesterday.
The official Purchasing Managers Index, compiled by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing as a measure of the nation’s manufacturing activities, reached 53.2 last month following a reading of 53.1 in May and 53.5 in April.
The figure has been above 50 – the threshold denoting expansion – for four consecutive months.
In addition, the brokerage firm CLSA said yesterday its China PMI rose to 51.8 in June from 51.2 in May, the highest level since July last year and the third straight month for the index to record growth.
“After softening slightly in May, China’s official PMI improved again last month and showed sequential economic expansion. We take it as a signal that the green shoots of economic recovery have strengthened and are likely to blossom in the second half of 2009,” said Wang Qing, a Morgan Stanley economist.
“Continuity of accommodative monetary and financial conditions and follow-through in the implementation of the fiscal stimulus package should bring about robust growth in GDP in the second half of this year,” Wang said. “In addition, private investment will likely catch up, as the recovery in property sales remains strong and industrial profits recently registered significant improvement.”
Eric Fishwick, head of Economic Research at CLSA, said the PMI increases confirmed that growth was solidifying in manufacturing.
“Further improvement in export orders is a surprise, and domestic demand for manufacturing should continue to grow, as policy and the upturn in residential construction are gaining traction,” Fishwick said.
Both Wang and Fishwick expect the PMI to continue expanding in the coming months.
The production index under the official PMI strengthened to 57.1 in June from 56.9 in May, supported mainly by domestic demand, with new orders standing at 55.5 last month.
Economists said the decline in China’s exports should bottom out soon as new export orders reflected in the PMI rose to 51.4 in June, from 50.1 in May when they first entered expansionary territory.
The employment figure climbed back above 50 for the first time since last September, hitting 50.1 in June from 49.9 a month earlier, implying the country’s job-protection and creation policy is working.
China’s gross domestic product grew 6.1 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, the weakest pace since at least 1992. Economists generally expect better performance when second-quarter results are posted later this month.
The main concern is weak external demand. China’s exports fell 26.4 percent in May from a year earlier, a record low in at least 14 years.
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Industrial output grows less than 2007

January 25, 2009

CHINA’S industrial output rose 12.9 percent year on year in 2008, or 5.6 percentage points less than the previous year, the National Bureau of Statistics said yesterday.

Output climbed 5.7 percent in December, up slightly from the 5.4-percent growth rate in November. However, the December figure was 11.7 percentage points lower than a year earlier, and it was also much lower than any of the first 10 months of 2008.

Output of state-owned enterprises and shareholding companies rose 9.1 percent and 15 percent, respectively. These figures include companies with annual sales of at least 5 million yuan (US$731,283), the point at which companies in China are classified as medium to large-scale.

Output of companies funded by foreign investors or investors from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan rose 9.9 percent.

Heavy industrial output rose 13.2 percent, while that of light industry gained 12.3 percent.

The bureau’s data showed aggregate industrial profits hit 2.4 trillion yuan in the first 11 months of last year, up 4.9 percent compared with the same period in 2007. However, the growth rate fell a sharp 31.8 percentage points from a year earlier.

Of 39 industries surveyed, 31 reported year-on-year profit growth. The five fastest growth rates were recorded by petroleum and natural gas extraction, coal mining, transport equipment manufacturing, chemical production and metals processing.

Industrial production growth slowed along with a weakening global economy, which reduced market prices as well as domestic and foreign demand, analysts said.

“Weakening demand, especially overseas, was a major cause of China’s slowdown, as more than 30 percent of GDP comes from trade-related industries,” said Tang Min, deputy secretary of the China Development Research Foundation.

He forecast the economy would begin to improve in the second or third quarter as a national 4-trillion-yuan stimulus package took effect and boosted domestic demand for industrial products.

Ma Jiantang, the bureau’s head, called the December rebound a “positive sign” for China’s industrial production.

“The growth rate of industrial output was 0.3 percentage point higher than November. Small as it is, it’s an important change in industrial activity” and could help China’s economy to rebound, he said.

Ma said 16 of the 39 industries surveyed had shown a month-on-month rise in output growth.

A survey conducted by the bureau earlier this month showed steel, coal, ferrous metal and chemical product prices began to rebound after prolonged declines during the second half of 2008, Ma said.

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China’s economy grows 9% in 2008

January 22, 2009

CHINA’S gross domestic product (GDP) reached 30.0670 trillion yuan (US$4.4216 trillion) in 2008, up 9 percent year on year, said the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) today.

The growth was the slowest since 2001, when an annual rate of 8.3 percent was recorded, and the first time below a double-digit level since 2003.

The overall national economy maintained the good developing momentum of fast growth, stable prices, optimized structures and improved welfare, said Ma Jiantang, director of the NBS, at a press conference.

The annual growth rate for the fourth quarter dipped to 6.8 percent from 9.0 percent in the third quarter and 9.9 percent for the first three quarters, according to Ma.

“The international financial crisis is deepening and spreading, while its negative impact on domestic economy is continuing,” said Ma.

Despite the fourth-quarter slowdown, Ma said the 9-percent pace was “still a high figure”.

China’s performance was better than the average growth of 3.7 percent for the world economy last year, 1.4 percent for developed countries and 6.6 percent for developing and emerging economies, he said, citing estimates of the International Monetary Fund.

“With a 9-percent rate, China actually contributed to more than20 percent of the global economic growth in 2008,” said Ma.

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China expects economic growth by 10% in 2009

December 2, 2008

The Development Research Center of the State Council researcher Zhang Liqun said, China’s economy is expected to grow by 10 percent in 2009 despite the impact of the financial crisis and global economic downturn. Here you can read his remarks about the critical year of China’s economy.

China expects economic growth by 10% in 2009
By Xinhua

“Although dim world economic situation has led to weak overseas demand, domestic consumption and investments, vast development potential decided the country’s economy will grow at fast paces,” said Zhang Liqun, the Development Research Center of the State Council researcher.

He forecasted China’s economic growth would accelerate largely at the second half of next year.

Zhang said his remarks were based on the country’s huge domestic consumption, and investment potentials; sufficient fund, technology, labor and social security, and the government’s gradually mature macro-economic control measures.

“Personal income continues to increase as millions of migrant workers flow into the city to get their lives improved. Enlarging demand for houses and autos will form huge and lasting consuming power,” he said.

“However, domestic enterprises need to accelerate their paces in upgrading business structure, in a bid to better cope with severe world economic situation,” he said.

China’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew to 20.16 trillion yuan (2.96 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first three quarters of this year, up 9.9 percent from the same period of last year. The growth rate was 2.3 percentage points lower than the same period of last year.

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Slowdown But not Downturn !

September 4, 2008

Inflation topping at %8.7 at February, snowstorms hitting Guandong , earthquakes devastating Sichuan, Amerikan credit crisis cutting orders, tight monetary policy tightening credits,and finally global economic slowdown…  all those touch the brakes of the chinese economy. But still there is no gloomy picture, here is why  :

CHINA is experiencing a temporary economic slowdown rather than a downturn, said Cheng Siwei, former vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, raising the prospect that adjustments might be necessary.

“The domestic inflation, severe winter weather, devastating earthquakes and the weakening global economy in the first half year have pushed the country’s economy to the edge of decline, but it is getting better,” Cheng said in a China Central Television talk show aired on Tuesday night.

He said according to the business cycle theory, an economy develops in cycles, and 10 years constituted a cycle for China’s economy.

The decade from 1990 to 2000 saw a near 14-percent growth in gross domestic product in the first two or three years and then a slowdown to about 8 percent in the remaining period. Economic growth continued rising from about 7.3 percent per annum in 2001 to 11.4 percent in 2007.

The estimated GDP growth rate in 2008 may slow to around 10 percent. Worry over a downturn for the Chinese economy reemerged.

However, he didn’t agree with the view that the Chinese economy faced a watershed, noting that this year’s growth rate, compared with 2007, meant only a temporary slowdown lasting two or three years.

The country’s decision makers now face the problem of combating inflation while at the same time boosting economic growth in the rest of the year to ensure a steady and fast economic development.

Source:China Daily

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