Burton Mills Reports China's Economy Strong in February

Burton Mills say China's economy held firm in February with small businesses and steel markets improving.

​According to Taipei, Taiwan-based Burton Mills, early February indicators which take into account distortions for the long holiday period, show that China’s economy has maintained its strong start to the year.

Smaller businesses have a more positive outlook and Burton Mills economists are optimistic as the steel sector continues to make a recovery. However, some disruption was caused by the Lunar New Year with retail managers reporting a slowdown in sales and manufacturing activity declining for the period.

Ongoing growth gives Chinese President Xi Jinping extra negotiating power when he meets with top deputies later this month to strategize for the future. Last week, the ruling Communist Party announced that it will revoke certain constitutional limits and that Jinping plans to set a term-limit repeal that would enable him to remain in power indefinitely.

Burton Mills economists predict that China’s growth will slow to 6.5 percent this year, down from 6.9 percent in 2017.

Standard Chartered Plc’s Small and Medium Enterprise Confidence Index, a survey of hundreds of Chinese companies, increased to 54.5 from 53.8 last month. Burton Mills economists say that while some performance gauges showed weakness this month, the overall outlook remained positive.

Burton Mills economists say that although data for employment, sales and manufacturing activity dipped due to the Lunar New Year, finance and investment in the manufacturing sector remained strong and this seems to indicate that the economy will sustain its recovery in the coming months.

In addition, foreign sentiment improved for the second consecutive month this month after dropping to a 24 month low in December last year.

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Source: Burton Mills