STRONG output in China's production sector, despite capacity restraints, may prove to be Zhu Rhongji's strongest ally in bringing the economy under control without severely curtailing growth.
Latest figures for economic growth for the six months to June 30 show gross domestic product up 13.9 per cent, compared with 14.1 per cent in the first quarter and 12.8 per cent for all of 1992.
The growth rate is also up from 10.6 per cent in the first half of last year.
The new figures suggest that the rate of increase in growth is beginning to level off at admittedly high rates - nominal growth being about 27 per cent - in the first two quarters of the latest year.
The same trend is evident in the figures for gross industrial output, up 21.5 per cent on average in the first half of the year, compared to 18.2 per cent for the same period last year.
Other evidence of capacity restraints - that is, the limits to production affecting the economy's ability to grow faster - are, of course, reflected in the high inflation rate and the increased demand for imports.
When an economy is pushing up against its inherent production capacity restraints, the first to be affected is inflation where too much money is seen to be chasing too few goods in the domestic economy.