Stocks surge after China stimulus

Japan saw one of Monday's biggest early bounces

Asian markets have risen sharply, a day after China announced a huge investment plan to kick-start its slowing economy.

Stocks leapt in Japan, China and Hong Kong, buoyed by China's efforts to sustain its growth rates, on which many Asian economies depend.

About $586bn (£370bn) is to go into housing, infrastructure and post-earthquake reconstruction in China over the next two years.

Correspondents say the package is a response to falling growth and exports.

There will also be significant cuts in company tax, while banks will be allowed to lend more to projects involving rural development and technical innovation.

The government also promised a shift to a "moderately easy" monetary policy.

"The investment expansion should be done swiftly and forcefully," a State Council meeting chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao concluded.

Market bounce

Chinese stocks rose sharply, with the Shanghai Composite Index rising 5% initially and turnover there almost doubling.

Chinese exports have been a key driver of the economy

Companies likely to benefit most from the government's investment plans did best, including banking, steel and construction firms.

Japan's Nikkei stock index jumped 5.49% by the lunch break on Monday as investors welcomed a Wall Street rally, a weaker yen and China's economic package.

In Hong Kong, the benchmark index was up 5.6% by late morning.

Factory closures across the border in southern China have badly depressed China's manufacturing sector.

In Seoul, the market held steady despite growing worries about the car market in the US and its likely impact on South Korean manufacturing exports.

Commodity cuts?

Analysts said the stimulus package would not save China from the effects of the global financial slowdown, but could help to protect it.

It's a huge package... I think it is good news for correcting imbalances Dominique Strauss-Kahn

China, and Asian economies who increasingly depend on it as an export market, had become used to double digit growth figures.

In the third quarter of this year, growth slipped to 9% its lowest level in five years.

Analysts said that though this might be considered healthy elsewhere, the fall is taken as a worrying sign in China where the government has relied on rapid growth to maintain political stability.

The Chinese government has cut interest rates twice in recent weeks, and began considering ways to avert a more dramatic economic slowdown in October.

These included measures to stimulate the property market, prompt construction of low-cost housing, and increasing export rebates on thousands of products.

State media reported that the government was therefore ready to "map out more forceful measures to expand domestic demand", including "massive" infrastructure spending.

"It's a huge package," Dominique Strauss-Kahn, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, was quoted as saying by Reuters after a meeting of the Group of 20 finance officials in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

"It will have an influence not only on the world economy in supporting demand but also a lot of influence on the Chinese economy itself, and I think it is good news for correcting imbalances."

President Hu Jintao is to travel to Washington later this week for a global economic summit meeting.

China has been under pressure to help support the global economy.

From:BBC