Chinese manufacturing activities rose again in November as an industry index hit a seven-month high, reinforcing the view that the world's second-largest economy is stabilizing.
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The official Purchasing Managers' Index, a comprehensive gauge slanted toward Chinese state-owned enterprises, rose to 50.6 last month from October's 50.2, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said over the weekend.
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A reading above 50 signals gain in manufacturing while that below 50 points to a contraction.
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"The improved conditions at Chinese manufacturers are in line with rising optimism," said Zhou Hao, an economist with Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd.
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"We believe that China's near-term outlook remains positive, and we maintain our forecast that China's economy will grow 8 percent for the fourth quarter, and a 7.8 percent growth target for the whole year is attainable," Zhou said.
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Cai Jin, the federation's vice chairman, said the November data indicated the economy may continue to rise moderately given that the PMI stood above the boom-bust line for a second month.
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The component indices showed that production rose to 52.5 in November from 52.1 in October, new orders and new export orders gained 0.8 point and 0.9 point respectively to 51.2 and 50.2, while input prices surprisingly fell to 50.1 from 54.3, signaling a subdued inflation outlook.
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"Increased new orders and improvement in some PMI sub-indices mean companies have finished destocking," said Zhang Liqun, an analyst at the Development Research Center of the State Council.
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The profits of Chinese industrial companies grew 20.5 percent, the fastest in nearly one year, for a second month in October.Â
