Economic optimism holds steady despite weak data

By Wang Yanlin | April 14, 2014, Monday |

Online Edition

Chinese households still exhibited strong confidence despite China's recent economic slowdown, according to a survey today.

The China Wealth Index, compiled by Bank of Communications and Nielsen to gauge sentiment among Chinese households, remained at 130 in April, the same as January. It was 127 in November.

A reading above 100 reflects optimism.

The component indices showed that household confidence in the economy reached 131 and their willingness to invest also stood unchanged at 117.

"It is a bit surprising that people remained as confident about the economy despite weak numbers in the past quarter," said Lian Ping, chief economist at BoCom. "The strong signals of reform delivered by the government at the start of the year may be the source of people's continued optimism."

China's economic performance has been on the soft side in the past quarter with moderating growth in nearly all activity indicators including industrial production, fixed-asset investment and retail sales.

Wang Tao, an economist at UBS, said he expected China's gross domestic product growth probably scaled back to 7.4 percent in the first three months, lower than the country's target of 7.5 percent for this year.

The economic slowdown did, however, have an impact upon property purchase decisions.

The index measuring people's willingness to buy homes dropped 2 points from January to 102 in April, the survey showed. The index slumped to 94 in western China, indicating negative sentiment toward home purchases in the region.

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Economic optimism holds steady despite weak data

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