The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for China increased 0.9 percent in January to 314.4 (2004 = 100), following a 1.1 percent increase in December and a 0.8 percent increase in November. Three of the six components contributed positively to the index in January.
Said Andrew Polk, resident economist at The Conference Board China Center in Beijing, "The six-month growth in the leading index for China continued to decelerate in January, mainly due to subdued export growth and manufacturing performance. The softening in the short-term trend of the LEI, along with other high-frequency statistics, suggests that China's growth in 2015 is off to a weak start."
The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) for China, which measures current economic activity, increased 0.6 percent in January to 271.0 (2004 = 100), following a 1.1 percent increase in December and a 0.1 percent increase in November. All five components contributed positively to the index in January.
The Conference Board LEI for China aggregates six economic indicators that measure economic activity in China. Each of the LEI components has proven accurate on its own. Aggregating individual indicators into a composite index filters out so-called "noise" to show underlying trends more clearly.
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