Demand boosts China’s factory growth

China’s factory growth held at an 18-month high in November on firm domestic and foreign demand, defying expectations the economy faces a modest slowdown as 2013 draws to a close.

The official Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) stood at 51.4 in November, the National Bureau of Statistics said, unchanged from October and ahead of market expectations for a reading of 51.1.

Investors had expected the PMI, one of the earliest pieces of Chinese data released each month, to show China’s economy decelerated in the fourth quarter on slacker credit growth, fragile global demand, and slower restocking of inventories by firms.