Manufacturing in China, the world's fastest-growing major economy, expanded at a slower pace last month as export growth weakened.
The Purchasing Managers’ Index fell to 53.3 from a record 59.2 in April, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said yesterday in an e-mailed statement.
Weaker expansions in economies around the world are cooling demand for made-in-China goods, leading the central bank to last week forecast a “moderate” slowing of economic growth this year. Indexes of new orders, export orders and output all fell in yesterday’s survey.
“We expect Chinese exports to continue slowing for the rest of this year, as US housing prices and consumption decline,” said Xing Ziqiang, a Beijing-based economist at China International Capital Corp (中國國際金融公司).
Xing said the May 12 earthquake that devastated parts of Sichuan Province was a factor in the slowing. The federation’s statement didn’t mention it.
The index of export orders fell to 53.4 from 58.9. The index of new orders declined to 55.4 from 65. The output index dropped to 55.7 from 66.5.
“Export growth slowed down in May,” said Zhang Liqun (張立群), a senior research fellow at the State Council’s Development Research Center.
China’s economy, the world’s fourth-biggest, expanded 10.6 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier. The pace for all of last year was 11.9 percent, the quickest in 13 years.
A US slowdown and a global credit shortage have trimmed demand for the nation’s shipments. Export growth cooled to 21.9 percent in April from 30.6 percent in March. Last month’s figure is yet to be released.
The index is based on a survey of more than 700 companies in 20 industries, including energy, metallurgy, textile, automobile and electronics. A reading above 50 reflects an expansion, below 50 a contraction.
The measure of input prices fell to 73.9 from 75.1, the highest on record, the federation said.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors
RSS