Economic data expected to pick up

DATA for October may provide further evidence of a mild economic recovery taking shape in China, analysts said ahead of date slated to be released on Friday.

Investment in infrastructure, especially transportation, should help bolster the performance along with improved retail sales due to the eight-day National Day holiday at the beginning of last month.

"China's economy may have leveled out of the worst slump since the 2008 global financial crisis," said Yao Wei, China economist at Societe Generale. "Nearly all economic indicators will post better readings in October, and inflation will ease further to allow previous policy easing to filter through."

Yao said he expected fixed-asset investment will expand 20.6 percent on an annual basis in the January-October period, up from the 20.5 percent rise in the first nine months. Retail sales may have increased 14.5 percent last month, compared with 14.2 percent in September.

Lu Zhengwei, chief economist at Industrial Bank, was a bit less optimistic but also upbeat about the recovery.

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