The new month has brought with it encouraging signs for the economy. The Shanghai Composite Index cleared 3,000 points yesterday and has so far continued to rise, indicating optimism among investors. The closely watched Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), an indicator of manufacturing activity, is also up. The June figure of 53.2 was a slight increase from May’s 53.1, suggesting that manufacturing activity is continuing to expand. While export figures show slight improvement, supply-side activity is responding to what looks to be a resilient consumer sector here in China. In fact, resilient may be too weak a term to describe the kind of sales growth some companies are enjoying. General Motors saw its unit sales increase 38% year-on-year in the first half of 2009 thanks in part to government subsidies, but also due to strong growth in inland cities that have been less affected by a slump in exports. Of course, GM isn’t doing as well outside of China, and is still looking for suitors for several of its units. In Europe, GM’s Opel may be the target of a detailed bid by Beijing Automotive Industry Holding to be presented in the next few days; never mind that Canadian auto-parts supplier Magna already signed a memorandum of understanding with GM in May for a majority stake in Opel.