By Chua Kong Ho and Shani Raja
March 5 (Bloomberg) -- China stocks rose in volatile trade after Premier Wen Jiabao said the country’s 8 percent growth target is within reach, indicating the government doesn’t see the need to increase its stimulus package.
China Cosco Holdings Co. gained 4.2 percent after Wen said it’s “possible for us to meet this target” in his annual speech to the nation’s parliament in Beijing today. Bank of China Ltd. added 4.6 percent after the government announced bank loans reached 800 billion yuan ($117 billion) last month.
The Shanghai Composite Index advanced 1 percent to 2,221.08 at the close, after changing direction at least eight times. The gauge surged 6.1 percent yesterday, the most in four months, on speculation Wen would add to China’s 4 trillion yuan spending package announced in November.
“The Chinese authorities have already greased the wheels of recovery,” said Nader Naeimi, an investment strategist at AMP Capital Investors in Sydney, which manages $85 billion. “It may be a short-term disappointment that no further stimulus was announced, but it doesn’t undermine the China growth story.”
Stocks climbed around the world yesterday after former statistics bureau head Li Deshui said Wen would announce a new package of stimulus measures today in the equivalent of a U.S. State of the Union address.
Shares of heavy-equipment makers declined. Sany Heavy Industry Co., China’s largest supplier of concrete-making equipment, slid 2 percent to 23.23 yuan, while Anhui Conch Cement Co. declined 0.9 percent to 36.03 yuan, on disappointment at the lack of new spending. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures fell 0.5 percent, erasing gains.
‘Wonderful’ Economy
“China can’t solve the world’s problems,” Jim Rogers, the author of “A Bull in China: Investing Profitably in the World’s Greatest Market,” said in a phone interview today. “China is a wonderful and growing economy but it cannot pull the world out of the hole.”
China Cosco, the world’s largest dry-bulk carrier, climbed 4.2 percent to 10.52 yuan. China Shipping Development Co. rose 3.2 percent to 10.35 yuan and China Merchants Energy Shipping Co. gained 1.7 percent to 4.92 yuan.
Wen pledged to “significantly increase” investment after collapsing exports dragged the world’s third-largest economy to its weakest growth in seven years and cost the jobs of 20 million migrant workers.
“Enough has been done for now in terms of stimulus spending,” said Philippe Zhang, chief investment officer at AXA SPDB Investment Managers in Shanghai, which oversees about $220 million. “More needs to be done to boost consumption and less on the export-oriented side, but this is a long-term objective and can’t be achieved in the short term.”
Banks Advance
Bank of China, the nation’s third-largest lender by market value, climbed 4.6 percent to 3.66 yuan. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., the largest lender, added 1.8 percent to 3.90 yuan, while China Construction Bank Corp. advanced 2.6 percent to 4.30 yuan.
China’s banks offered more than 800 billion yuan ($117 billion) of loans in February, Liu Mingkang, head of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, said at a meeting of the legislature today.
All five industry groups on the Shanghai Composite rose today, about five stocks gaining for every three that declined.
The following shares also rose or fell in China trading. Stock symbols are in parentheses after company names:
Copper producers: Copper for May delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange climbed as much as 4.7 percent to 30,600 yuan ($4,475) a metric ton, the highest for a most-active contract since Nov. 10.
Jiangxi Copper Co. (600362 CH), the nation’s largest smelter, gained 3.7 percent to 17.34 yuan. Yunnan Copper Industry Co. (000878 CH), based in south China, advanced 3.4 percent to 14.19 yuan.
Beijing Sanyuan Foods Co. (600429 CH), a dairy company, gained 10 percent to 7.33 yuan after its parent won an auction for the assets of a bankrupt rival linked to last year’s tainted-milk scandal.
To contact the reporter on this story: Chua Kong Ho in Shanghai at kchua6@bloomberg.net; Shani Raja in Sydney at sraja4@bloomberg.net
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