A FLURRY of data in coming weeks is expected to show China posted solid economic growth in February, even as the government trimmed its growth target for the year to focus on containing the risks from a rapid build-up in debt.

    Export and import growth is expected to hit multi-year highs, according to Reuters polls, adding to views that the global economy are shifting into higher gear and giving China’s policymakers more confidence to press ahead on oft-delayed structural reforms.

    China’s first-quarter economic growth could accelerate to 7 percent year on year, from 6.8 percent in the last quarter, economists at OCBC wrote in a note yesterday, while adding the pace may ease beginning in spring.

    Reflecting continued strength in its manufacturing sector, and particularly heavy industry, China’s producer price index (PPI) likely rose 7.7 percent from a year earlier, the sharpest gain in nearly 9 years.

    China’s iron ore and steel prices have been rallying for a year, fueled by a construction boom, though worries are growing over rising inventories.

    While factory surveys show manufacturers have been able to pass on some of the higher production costs by raising prices of their goods, there has been scant evidence of it flowing through to consumer inflation yet.

    Consumer prices likely rose 1.7 percent in February, easing from a 2.5 percent increase in January as food prices normalized following Lunar New Year celebrations. The government is targeting consumer inflation at 3 percent this year, unchanged from 2016.

    China’s foreign exchange reserves likely fell for an eighth straight month, though the decline was seen to be marginal as a weaker U.S. dollar and tighter restrictions on taking money out of the country dampened pressure from capital outflows.(SD-Agencies)