Publishers of the China Minxin purchasing managers’ index (PMI) said they would stop updating the gauge of manufacturing to make a “major adjustment” to their calculations, dealing a second setback in recent months to investors looking for an early read on the economy.
Release of the unofficial PMI jointly compiled by China Minsheng Banking Corp (中國民生銀行) and the China Academy of New Supply-side Economics (華夏新供給經濟學研究院) is to be suspended starting this month, the Beijing-based academy said in an e-mailed statement yesterday, about six hours before the latest monthly data were scheduled for release.
Minxin’s suspension is the second in recent months as policymakers in the world’s second-largest economy struggle to arrest a deceleration in growth.
Another early estimate of China’s manufacturing sector, a flash gauge of a PMI compiled by Markit Economics and sponsored by Caixin Media (財新傳媒), was discontinued on Oct. 1.
The PMI data might eventually be released in a different format, according to the statement yesterday.
Academy spokesman Peng Peng (彭鵬) said in response to an e-mailed question that there was no timetable for when publication would resume. Peng did not respond to an e-mailed question asking why the gauge was suspended.
The indices gauge strength in categories such as manufacturing or services by surveying companies about whether conditions are improving, deteriorating or remaining the same.
A level of 50 typically divides between strengthening and weakening.
A second PMI reading for services also was suspended, the academy said yesterday.
Minxin’s PMI readings were based on a monthly survey covering more than 4,000 companies, about 70 percent of which are smaller enterprises. The private gauges have shown a more volatile picture than the official PMIs in the past year.
China’s manufacturing PMI declined from 43.3 in October to 42.4 last month, while the nonmanufacturing reading fell from 44.2 to 42.9, according the latest release. The factory gauge fell to a record low of 41.9 in August.
China’s official PMI from the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics fell to a three-year low of 49.6 last month.
For September, the now-discontinued flash Markit/Caixin PMI fell to a six-year low, while the official PMI reading showed a modest improvement.
Markit’s flash indicator was originally published in a partnership with HSBC Holdings Plc, which ended its sponsorship earlier this year.
Caixin, a Chinese business publisher, took over. Markit has not said why the advance reading for China was discontinued.
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