Guangzhou (JLC), November 30, 2023 – China's manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) continued to ease in November, staying below the critical 50% mark, a line that separates growth from contraction, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced on November 30.
The manufacturing PMI came in at 49.4% in November, down 0.1 percentage points from October, the NBS data showed.
A breakdown of November’s figures showed that the sub-index for production stood at 50.7%, a month-on-month drop of 0.2 percentage points, signaling that the production activities retreated.
The sub-index for new orders fell to 49.4%, down 0.1 percentage points on month, showing that the market demand shrank slightly.
Meanwhile, the sub-index for raw material inventories came in at 48.0%, down 0.2 percentage points on month. The sub-index for employment stood at 48.1%, up 0.1 percentage points from the previous month. The sub-index for distributor delivery time came in at 50.3%, up 0.1 percentage points from October.
Non-manufacturing PMI eases
China’s non-manufacturing PMI came in at 50.2% in November, down from 50.6% in October, suggesting that the non-manufacturing sector expanded at a slower pace than in the previous month, the NBS data indicated.
The commercial activity index for construction came in at 55.0%, up 1.5 percentage points month on month. The commercial activity index for services dropped 0.8 percentage points on month to 49.3%, the NBS data showed.
The commercial activity indexes for waterway transport, satellite TV broadcasting, telecommunications, monetary and financial services were all above 55% in November, suggesting high prosperity for these sectors.
However, the index for the property sector was still below the 50% mark in November, the NBS said.
