by Calculated Risk on 11/30/2011 09:45:00 PM

The post title is from a post Michael Pettis wrote last year: Beijing’s stop-and-go measures. It looks like China is back to pushing on the gas pedal ...

From the NY Times: China, in Surprising Shift, Takes Steps to Spur Bank Lending

China’s central bank, in a surprise move on Wednesday, shifted its economic focus from fighting inflation to stimulating growth by freeing the nation’s commercial banks to lend more money.
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For more than a year, the Chinese central bank tried to squeeze the country’s banking system in hopes of restraining inflation. Its action on Wednesday’s indicated that China’s government feared the country’s growth engine was starting to falter.

From Reuters: China Factory Sector Shrinks First Time in Nearly 3 Years

China's factory sector shrank in November for the first time in nearly three years, an official purchasing managers' index (PMI) showed on Thursday, underlining the central bank's move to cut bank reserve requirements to shore up the economy.

The Asian markets are all green tonight. The Nikkei is up about 2%, the Hang Seng is up 5.4%.