China's Lagging, Leading Indicators Spike... Due to a Bubble?

Bloomberg reports:

A leading indicator for China jumped by the most in 14 months, adding to signs that the world’s third-biggest economy is maintaining momentum as Europe’s debt crisis threatens to undermine the global recovery.

The measure gained 1.7 percent to 147.1 in April, compared with a revised 1.2 percent increase in March, The Conference Board said on its website today.

“China is performing among the best of any economy around the world,” Bill Adams, resident economist for the New York- based research organization, said in Beijing today.

The actual data shows the majority of this "best performing" growth came from a spike in floor space started (aligned with the Chinese construction bubble reported a month ago).



But, the good news (for China) is that this is data from April and we know Chinese exports rebounded in May. The bad news is that the European crisis that "couldn't stop this Chinese momentum" hadn't really gotten into full swing yet.

Source: Conference Board