Agence France Presse

Shanghai, March 20:

Official data suggesting a quickening of China’s already fast-paced economy has rekindled overheating concerns, prompting economists to ask will Beijing revert to more central planning or market-based policies next?

“Contrary to initial impressions, Chinese government statisticians have just reported a stunning re-acceleration of industrial output growth over the first two months of 2005,” Morgan Stanley chief economist and managing director Stephen Roach said after the release of data this week. China’s industrial output rose by 16.9 per cent to $109 billion in the first two months of the year, with much of the growth attributed to overseas demand for industrial exports. No figures were given for February, when China enjoyed a week-long Lunar New Year holiday, although the two-month figure follows an 8.9 percent year-on-year increase in January. Although the Chinese holiday distorts data, Roach said, “the numbers were a shocker. A Chinese economy that appeared to be on a path of measured deceleration over the course of 2004 has clearly re-accelerated.”