Conference Board Leading Economic Index for China increased 1.2% in January (+0.8 % in December and a 1.3% increase in November)
Five of the six components contributed positively to the index in January.
- Unexpectedly strong growth in bank lending
- Improvements in the export sector
- Consumer expectations was the only negative contributor to the index
- Despite the monthly pick up, the LEI’s six-month growth rate has remained essentially unchanged since the second half of last year
This sideways movement points to a continuation of the current pace of economic expansion for the first half of 2014, even though it is in part underpinned by an unsustainable credit expansion which creates risk and uncertainty.
