BEIJING: China in November saw an uptick in industrial output for the second straight month, government data showed Saturday, an encouraging sign for officials as they battle stagnant activity. Beijing has in recent weeks announced a slew of the most aggressive measures in years aimed at boosting growth in the world’s second-largest economy, which has struggled to fully recover since the pandemic. A key measure of activity in the manufacturing sector, the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), was 50.3 in November, according to data published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The latest PMI reading marks the second straight month of expansion - indicated by a figure above 50 - after a five-month run in negative territory that ended in October. And it came in higher than a Bloomberg forecast, which had predicted the figure to stand at 50.2. Since late September, Beijing has unveiled a string of measures aimed at bolstering growth, including cutting interest rates, cancelling restrictions on homebuying and easing the debt burden on local governments.

But economists have warned that more direct fiscal stimulus aimed at shoring up domestic consumption is needed to restore full health in China’s economy as fears of a renewed trade war with the United States mount. Writing ahead of Saturday’s data release by the NBS, Chang Shu and David Qu of Bloomberg Economics said that the expected increase in November’s PMI “reflects a seasonal tendency to rise following a holiday-led lull in October, not an economy that’s gearing up”. Beijing is targeting annual growth this year of around five percent - a goal that officials have recently expressed confidence in achieving. But many observers are more skeptical, with the IMF in October revising its forecast for China’s economic growth this year to 4.8 percent. The International Monetary Fund anticipates that figure slowing further to 4.5 percent next year. — AFP