China's recent stimulus measures have paid off and are boosting the world's second-largest economy, now likely to reach this year's GDP growth goal of about 7.5%. That's the consensus after Thursday's release of figures showing manufacturing at its strongest level in 18 months. The July HSBC/Markit flash PMI (Purchasing Managers' Index) came in at 52.0, up from 50.7 in June and above the 51.0 that analysts surveyed by Bloomberg Newshad predicted. Subindexes for new orders and output were also encouraging, showing improvement in both domestic and export demand.