Consumer holds keys to China's development: Westpac

To be published on a monthly basis, Westpac's MNI China CSI will sit join similar measurements for India, Russia and the United States.

MNI's indicators will paint a multi-layered canvas of China's economic landscape through the mercurial sentiments of businesses and consumers.

"So economists will be interested in the all China series," McKay said. "While multinational corporations and Chinese firms themselves are going to face segmentation data because they want to know what 18-34 year old people in east China and tending towards the south think about car purchases today - and that's the kind of info they can extract from this survey."

The new index can be segmented; broken down; analyzed and sent on explorations across attitudes; perspectives and confidence - even across different countries and regions.

Westpac is banking on the index delivering in-depth analysis and highlighting how changing patterns can impact potential business and consumer activities.

McKay says the Chinese household sector is already an important factor in the determination of global growth, and that importance will increase over time.

"We've found that the Chinese household sector is actually a very rational observer - not only of their own situation - but asset markets in the economy and the broader business conditions."

The Westpac MNI China CSI is based on the methodology developed by the successful University of Michigan's US Consumer Sentiment Index (in use since 1946).

The Westpac-Melbourne Institute Australian Consumer Sentiment Survey, was also modeled on the University of Michigan survey and plays a considerable role in Australia's measurement of confidence.

"We've looked at the history of this survey which goes back to 2007 and we've found very, very strong statistical linkages between things like industrial production the business surveys; housing sales; exports; imports; everything important that is well measured in China now this consumer sentiment survey has a counterpoint indicator which gives us a little bit, of a lead a little bit of a heads up about where that indicator is heading," he said.

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