Asia is at the front of the global economy as manufacturing in China grew at the fastest pace in five years last month. The purchasing managers’ index released by HSBC Holdings Plc rose to a seasonally adjusted 55.7 from 55.4. The government’s PMI, also published today, held at an 18-month high.
“China’s at the center of Asia’s outperformance and that will continue to be the case at least through the first half of 2010,” said Glenn Maguire, chief Asia-Pacific economist at Societe Generale SA in Hong Kong. “Without China’s aggressive policy response to the crisis, the region wouldn’t be where it is now.”
Bloomberg News