Manufacturing Sector Contracts After One Month... October PMI at 49.5

China's manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) returned to a contraction phase in October.

On the 31st, the National Bureau of Statistics of China announced that the manufacturing PMI for October was 49.5, down 0.7 points from the previous month. This figure fell short of experts' forecast of 50.2.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

The PMI, based on surveys of purchasing managers at companies, indicates economic expansion when above 50 and contraction when below 50. It recorded 49.2 in April, 48.8 in May, 49 in June, 49.3 in July, and 49.7 in August, before rising to 50.2 in September for the first time in six months. However, the October figure fell below the threshold again, showing a delayed economic recovery. By company size, the PMI for large enterprises was 50.7, medium-sized enterprises 48.7, and small enterprises 47.9, each down 0.9, 0.9, and 0.1 points respectively.

Earlier this month, the long Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays lasting eight days caused manufacturing operations to halt, which may have had a significant impact. However, even considering this, the figure fell short of expectations, indicating that China's economic recovery has yet to gain momentum. Michelle Lam, a Greater China economist at Societe Generale, told Bloomberg, "Some of the decline is seasonal, but even accounting for that, it is somewhat disappointing," adding, "It shows that the recovery is fragile, and the reopening recovery may have ended after the holidays."

The non-manufacturing PMI also fell by 1.1 points from the rising September figure to 50.6 points. The market had expected 51.8.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.