Surge in raw material imports 'positive'

China's commodity market may be on the brink of a recovery as the economy stabilizes and investment picks up, an economist said.

A solid increase in overall commodity imports in July suggests that investment is picking up, possibly helped by an official pivot toward rail investment, according to Alaistair Chan, an economist with Moody's Analytics.

"If this continues, producer prices could return to [showing] inflation by year end of the year.