CHINA EXITS SLOWDOWN AS QUARTERLY GROWTH TOPS FORECASTS: ECONOMY
Bloomberg News, January 18, 2013
China’s economic growth accelerated for the first time in two years as government efforts to revive demand drove a rebound in industrial output, retail sales and the housing market.
Gross domestic product rose 7.9 percent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said in Beijing today. That compared with the 7.8 percent median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey and 7.4 percent in the previous period. Industrial output in December rose a more-than- expected 10.3 percent and fixed-asset investment for the year gained 20.6 percent.
The recovery adds to evidence that the global economy is improving, after U.S. data yesterday showed housing starts at a four-year high, European bond yields receded from crisis levels and Japan announced a $116 billion stimulus. To sustain growth, China’s incoming premier, Li Keqiang, may need to confront the fading effects of government support, a likely pickup in inflation and rising risks from shadow banking.
“China’s recovery is in quite good shape,” Zhu Haibin, chief China economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in Hong Kong, said in a telephone interview. “Domestic pro-growth policies are likely to wane in mid-2013,” yet demand from abroad may pick up in the second half, he said.
Improving investor confidence in China’s outlook has lifted mainland stocks and the currency. The Shanghai Composite Index (SHCOMP), the nation’s benchmark gauge, has advanced 18 percent from an almost four-year low on Dec. 3, including a 1.4 percent rise today.
(...) [article here]
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