Asian shares advance after Wall St rallies to its best day in months, and China reports strong data.

Shares advanced Monday in Asia after U.S. stocks rallied to their best day since November’s election and China reported stronger than expected factory data.

Chinese officials were due later in the day to brief reporters about Beijing’s efforts to get consumers to spend more. Economists say consumers must spend more to get the economy out of its doldrums, although most have advocated broader, more fundamental reforms to foster greater confidence and build their spending power.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng surged 1.3% to 24,276.64, and the Shanghai Composite index was up 0.6% at 3,429.30.

China’s industrial output rose nearly 6% in the first two months of the year from a year earlier and retail sales were up 4%, the government reported Monday. But officials reported continued weakness in the property market, with home prices falling and investment in real estate down nearly 10% from a year earlier.

Source: Finance.yahoo