China rolls along.

China's industrial output grew 17.9 percent in November compared with figures for November of 2002, according to that nation's National Bureau of Statistics.

In a statement summarized by the China News Daily of Beijing, the iron and steel industry was cited as one of four key factors in the booming growth rate.

The industrial output grew a year-on-year 17.2 percent in October and 16.3 percent in September. Only February, with its 19.9 percent jump, showed a bigger increase.

Electronics and telecommunications equipment; transportation equipment; machinery equipment; and ferrous metals were cited as "the major contributors to the month's industrial growth," by bureau spokesman Yao Jingyuan. "The four sectors contributed 46.9 percent of November's industrial growth," he told the China News Daily.

For the first 11 months of 2003, China's industrial output grew a year-on-year 16.8 percent to $440 billion.

Steel and other metals should remain in demand, as the output of cars surged 71.6 percent to 200,200 vehicles in November from the 2002 figure. Computer production also rose 130 percent, according to the bureau.

"Production will continue to grow at a higher rate in the coming months and next year," predicted Wang Zhao, a researcher with the State Council's Development Research Centre.

The industrial growth has been part of an overall wider economic growth. "If there are no major unexpected fluctuations, the country's economy is expected to grow 8.5 percent for 2003," Qiu Xiaohua, deputy commissioner of the National Bureau of Statistics, told the Beijing newspaper.

Multi-national manufacturers continue to follow the boom, as German-U.S. auto giant DaimlerChrysler in early December announced plans to form a joint venture with Fujian Motor Industry Corp. of China and China Motor Corp. of Taiwan in mid-2004 to produce its Mercedes-Benz vans on the mainland.

The three companies will invest $245 million into the joint venture, which will be located in Fuzhou, in east China's Fujian Province.