China is in the grip of a severe drought. In contrast, its banking system is awash with liquidity. Whereas most economies are being squeezed by a credit crunch, Chinese bank lending surged by 21% in the year to January. There are a few other hopeful signs. Are these the first green shoots of spring?rnNot necessarily. There are reasons to remain worried about China's immediate prospects. Unfortunately, official statistics are of no help in tracking the path of China's output and demand: the National Bureau of Statistics has decided not to release January figures for industrial production, investment or retail sales because they arerndistorted by the Chinese new year holiday. In 2008 it fell in February, this year in January, which means that last month had only 17 working days compared with 22 last year. To avoid the statistical noise, January figures for economic activity will be released at the same time as the February ones. Meanwhile, China watchers are having to look elsewhere.
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