GROWTH in China’s manufacturing sector unexpectedly picked up in November, despite a crackdown on air pollution and a cooling property market that have been widely expected to weigh on the world’s second-largest economy.

The upbeat data should help ease concerns, for now, that China’s campaign to curb excess risk in the financial sector and its punishing war on smog could lead to a sharper-than-expected slowdown in China’s economy.

“A lot of people [predicted] a cyclical slowdown, but we haven’t seen that...it looks like the current momentum can be sustained until at least early next year,” said Zhou Hao, senior Asia emerging markets economist at Commerzbank.

The official Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) released Thursday stood at 51.8 in November, compared with 51.6 in October.

It remained above the 50-point mark that separates growth from contraction on a monthly basis for the 16th straight month.

Analysts had forecast it would come in at 51.4, easing for a second straight month after September’s more than five-year high.

Boosted by hefty government infrastructure spending, a resilient property market and unexpected strength in exports, China’s manufacturing and industrial firms have been a major driver behind the economy’s forecast-beating growth of nearly 6.9 percent so far this year.

November’s strong reading was led by high-tech and consumer goods manufacturing, statistics official Zhao Qinghe said, adding some traditional industries continued to struggle. (SD-Agencies)