China’s Economic Recovery Gives Boost to Xi Amid Reform Summit

China’s economy entered the final quarter of 2013 with an acceleration in manufacturing and exports, momentum that offered confidence to Communist leaders gathering to determine policy shifts for the coming decade.

Industrial output rose a more-than-estimated 10.3 percent from a year earlier in October and manufacturing investment strengthened, according to data released Nov 9. by the National Bureau of Statistics. Customs data the previous day showed overseas sales rebounded by more forecast.

Failure to implement reforms on issues ranging from interest rates to local government debt and land ownership risks impeding the party’s goals of boosting incomes and spurring hundreds of millions of rural residents to move to the cities. President Xi Jinping and top Communist leaders tomorrow conclude a four-day gathering to map out an economic blueprint for changes that the State Council’s research institute says should include curbing the government’s role in the economy, adjusting the fiscal system and spurring foreign investment.

Standard Chartered last month raised its estimate for China’s 2013 economic growth to 7.6 percent from 7.5 percent and revised next year’s forecast to 7.4 percent from 7.2 percent. The new projections match the median estimates in Bloomberg News surveys in October.

(Source: Bloomberg)