The China lift for global economy

China has rebounded faster and stronger than other major economies from the world economic crisis, with government spending and bank lending pushing up economic expansion by 8.9 per cent in the third quarter.
The October retail sales and industrial output data point that China's economy will meet or surpass the government's goal of 8 per cent economic growth for the full year. The World Bank expects the Chinese economy to grow 8.4 per cent this year, up from the 7.2 per cent it forecast in June. (Source: AP)

China's economy began to falter in late 2008 as exports plunged and thousands of factories shut down in the wake of global financial crisis. China fought back with a $586 billion stimulus plan involving massive spending and bank lending for construction of infrastructure such as railways and roads to pump up the domestic economy.
Growth fell to a low of 6.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2009, but rebounded to 7.9 per cent in the second quarter, hitting 8.9 per cent in the third compared with a year earlier. (Source: AP)

With projected growth of 8.4 per cent in China this year and the country’s domestic demand racing ahead of global demand, countries exporting consumer durables, electronic components and raw materials to China have felt the positive flow-on effects.
As a result, the World Bank has projected growth of 6.7 per cent in 2009 for developing East Asia and the Pacific and 7.8 per cent next year. (Source: NYT)

Powered by tax cuts and stimulus spending, China's October auto sales soared 72 per cent from a year earlier, outpacing US sales for another month, according to data reported on Monday. China, with 1.3 billion people, has long been expected to overtake the United States as the biggest vehicle market.
Automakers sold a total of 1.2 million cars and trucks, the government-sanctioned China Association of Auto Manufacturers announced. It was well ahead of the 838,000 vehicles sold in the United States in October.
China's sales this year rose to 10.9 million vehicles, compared with 8.6 million in the United States, according to Autodata Corp. (Source: AP)

The recovering demand from China has pushed prices of many commodities to new highs. Investors are betting a resurgent Chinese economy, the third largest in the world, would draw heavily from global supplies of commodities. (Source: AP)