This might be as good as it gets. China's economy can't seem to cope with the increased activity.

Inflation is again on the scene, with consumer prices up 3.2% in October compared with the year earlier, the fastest rate since February and inching toward the government's full-year target of 3.5%. Vegetable prices, an important component of China's inflation basket, surged. Property prices remain bubbly.
 
To prevent inflation from becoming sticky, Beijing will need to keep credit scarce. The inflow of funds from a trade surplus that more than doubled in October to $31.1 billion compared with September signals the central bank has more excess liquidity to soak up. It may also mean continued currency appreciation.
 
Policy makers are operating in a space about as wide as a hotel corridor. Premier Li Keqiang said last month China needs 7.2% growth to achieve the government's target of creating 10 million urban jobs a year. While some quibble with the precision of Mr. Li's figure, anything much lower than that and party officials worry the masses may get restless.
 
On the upside, it appears China's economy can't grow much faster than the third quarter's 7.8% year-over-year pace without inflation rising. Let prices get loose, and again policy makers have to worry about social discontent.
 
That leaves a 0.6 percentage point range in which Beijing is comfortable. In reality, the range may be even narrower. When growth slid to 7.5% in the second quarter, talk was rife about tipping points where anything much slower could trigger problems with servicing the economy's rising debt load.
 
Communist Party leaders holed up in their secretive plenum this weekend are rightly contemplating what big steps need to be taken to right China's economy for the next decade. They only have to look at October's data to see why they are in a tight spot.