Li bullish on China hitting 5pc growth

Staff reporter and agencies

Premier Li Qiang said the country's economic fundamentals remain good, with the private sector's services activity expanding at the fastest pace in three months in October on Beijing's big stimulus push.

"The government has the ability to drive sustained economic improvement," Li said yesterday at the opening of the China International Import Expo in Shanghai.

He said officials have "ample space for fiscal and monetary policy" and reiterated that China will hit its economic growth target of around 5 percent.

Li also said that China is willing to further open up its mega market, calling for all parties to break curbs and work with each other in a new round of global technology revolution.

It comes as the Caixin/S&P Global services purchasing managers' index grew to 52.0 in October from 50.3 the previous month. The 50-mark separates expansion from contraction on a monthly basis.

That was in line with the official PMI released last week, which showed non-manufacturing activity, including services and construction, broke back into expansion.

The economy grew at the slowest pace since 2023 in the third quarter, with the crisis-hit property sector showing few signs of steadying as Beijing races to reach its growth target for the year.

The mainland unleashed monetary stimulus and property sector support measures in September.

Soon after, a meeting of top Communist Party leaders, the Politburo, vowed the "necessary spending" to bring growth back on track.

A survey showed new business rose marginally to 52.1 from 51.0 in September. However, expansion of new business inflows from abroad slipped.

Capacity pressures were seen as new business added to the backlog of work. As a result, service providers raised their employment for a second consecutive month. Input price growth slowed to a three-month low, though companies are still grappling with rising costs.

Overall confidence rose to the highest in five months, with some firms increasing promotional efforts to support sales growth in the year ahead.

Together with the manufacturing PMI, the Caixin/S&P Global Composite PMI rose to 51.9 from 50.3 in September.

Recent figures pointed to increased deflationary pressures, softer export growth and subdued loan demand as red flags for an economic recovery.

Editorial: Page 4