The return of optimism

With many industrial segments recovering, the Year of the Rooster promises to help the real economy shake off recent troubles and crow again

Economy-trackers are highlighting facts and figures to indicate that the Chinese economy is entering 2017 on a strong footing, eclipsing last year's tepid data that roiled financial markets.

For instance, the Purchasing Managers' Index or PMI jumped to a more than two-year high of 51.7 in November, beating economists' expectations, while a measure of non-manufacturing sectors of construction and consumer services hit its highest mark since mid-2014.