China factory activity growth accelerates in November

AFP, BEIJING: China's factory activity grew at its fastest rate in more than two years in November, official data showed Thursday, as cheap credit and improving demand helped revive industry in the world's second-largest economy.
The better-than-expected pick-up in the closely watched purchasing managers' index (PMI) will provide fresh hope for stability after a long-running slowdown in economic growth.
The official PMI, which gauges conditions at factories and mines, came in at 51.7 in November, its highest since since July 2014, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said. That beat October's 51.2 and was much better than the median forecast of 51.0 in a Bloomberg News survey of economists.
Anything above 50 signals expanding activity while anything below suggests contraction.
The expansion in factory activity was driven by an uptick in market demand, with production of consumer goods and high-tech equipment both accelerating, NBS analyst Zhao Qinghe said in a statement.
But production "still has some difficulties" with raw materials and transportation costs rising for many companies, and sharp fluctuations in the yuan exchange rate making imports more costly, Zhao added.

China factory activity growth accelerates in November

AFP, BEIJING: Chinas factory activity grew at its fastest rate in more than two years in November, official data showed Thursday, as cheap credit and improving demand helped revive industry in the worlds second-largest economy. The better-than-expected pick-up in the closely watched purchasing managers index (PMI)will provide fresh hope for stability after a long-running slowdown in economic growth. The official PMI, which gauges conditions at factories and mines, came in at 51.7 in November, its highest since since July 2014, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said. That beat Octobers 51.2 and was much better than the median forecast of 51.0 in a Bloomberg News survey of economists. Anything above 50 signals expanding activity while anything below suggests contraction. The expansion in factory activity was driven by an uptick in market demand, with production of consumer goods and high-tech equipment both accelerating, NBS analyst Zhao Qinghe said in a statement. But production still has some difficulties with raw materials and transportation costs rising for many companies, and sharp fluctuations in the yuan exchange rate making imports more costly, Zhao added.