China’s industrial output picked up steam again in October, rising a better-than-expected 9.6% from a year earlier. “The key question for investors is whether China’s economic growth has truly bottomed out. Based on October data… the answer is firmly yes,” Lu Ting, an economist with Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, told the Financial Times.
Not everyone is convinced. “The stabilization is not rock-solid, though – IP growth is still well under its double-digit trend, and October’s number has merely rebounded to the level seen in May this year,” analysts from economic research firm IHS wrote on WSJ’s China Real Time. “The bottom line is that the economy remains very sluggish, although the good news is that there surely not a huge amount more slowdown to come.” Many are expecting a dollop of fiscal stimulus from the Chinese government once the reins of leadership have been handed over to the new generation at the 18th party congress, which is now underway.