Chinese manufacturing growth slowed last month, the Chinese government said yesterday, as the world’s second-largest economy expands at its weakest pace in five years.
The country’s official Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) — a measure of activity in the sector — came in at 50.8 last month, according to the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics.
The figure was lower than the 51.1 recorded in September, but slightly higher than the preliminary 50.4 figure for last month in a private survey released by British bank HSBC Holding PLC on Oct. 23.
The index tracks activity in China’s factories and workshops and is a closely-watched indicator of the health of the economy.
Readings above 50 indicate growth, while anything below points to contraction.
HSBC is scheduled to release its final index reading for last month tomorrow.
ANZ Bank economists Liu Li-gang (劉利剛) and Zhou Hao (周浩) said that the figure suggests the People’s Bank of China will likely continue to utilize its so-called standing lending facility — a tool used to manage short-term liquidity.
“The weaker-than-expected reading of official PMI suggests that the easing bias in the monetary policy will be maintained,” they said.
The deceleration also reflects a slowing of China’s economic growth to a five-year low of 7.3 percent in the third quarter of the year, compared with the 7.5 percent expansion in the previous three months, the government announced last month.
Meanwhile, declines in China’s new home prices slowed last month, a survey showed on Friday, though figures still fell for a sixth straight month as property woes weigh on growth in the world’s No. 2 economy.
The average price of a new home in 100 major cities was 10,629 yuan (US$1,738) per square meter last month, down 0.4 percent from September, the China Index Academy said in a statement.
The decline was smaller than the 0.92 percent fall recorded in September.
Still, prices have remained negative since May, as analysts say China’s flagging property sector is contributing to growth slowdown in the broader economy.
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