Early China indicators signal that economy cooled this month

Confidence among China’s sales managers and steel producers waned in November, matching the mood among international investors, while sentiment among small businesses improved, according to the earliest available indicators. As the country’s leaders underline a shift to more sustainable economic growth rates, and push through reforms to cut pollution and curb financial risk, the world’s second-largest economy is on a long-term slowdown, even though output in 2017 has exceeded expectations. Economists see gross domestic product expanding 6.8 per cent this year before decelerating to 6.4 per cent in 2018.