Business conditions in China continue to improve, according to preliminary data from Market News International, a unit of Deutsche Boerse. It said its latest Flash MNI China Business Sentiment Indicator pointed to strong growth in February, with rises in new orders and production, helping the indicator rise to 61.79, compared with a final reading of 551.56 for January. It also said growth in both new orders and production accelerated during the month. The figures chime with separate data pointing to an economic rebound in China, which reported earlier this month that exports grew 25 per cent year-on-year in January. China’s January’s trade surplus was US$29.2 billion (HK$226.4 billion) versus a market expectation of US$22 billion (HK$170.6 billion). Global markets have been buoyed in part by expectations of a surge in China’s export growth and an easing of inflation to 2.0 per cent from December’s seven-month high of 2.5 per cent when January data are published. A survey from HSBC earlier this month also revealed that growth in China’s services sector hit a four-month high in January. The HSBC services purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose to 54 in January, up from December’s 51.7, moving more comfortably into territory above the 50-point threshold that separates accelerating from slowing growth. Optimism about the world’s second-biggest economy is lifting, with analysts expecting China’s economic growth to inch up to 8.1 per cent this year, off a 13-year low of 7.8 per cent hit last year. Market News International is due to release final China Business Sentiment Indicator for the month next Thursday.
