Guangzhou (JLC), September 2, 2024 – China's manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) softened in August, indicating that the factory activity contracted for a fourth consecutive month, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed.
The manufacturing PMI came in at 49.1% in August, down from 49.4% in July, the NBS data showed.
The drop was largely due to the off-season for some products and the extreme weather such as high temperatures and frequent rains, said Zhao Qinghe, a senior statistician from the NBS.
A breakdown of August’s manufacturing PMI showed that the sub-index for production stood at 49.8%, a month-on-month drop of 0.3 percentage points, signaling that the production activity grew at a slower pace.
The sub-index for new orders fell to 48.9%, indicating that the market demand eased somewhat, the NBS data showed.
Meanwhile, the sub-index for raw material inventories came in at 47.6%, falling 0.2 percentage points from the month before. The sub-index for employment also dropped 0.2 percentage points from July, reaching 48.1% in August, while the sub-index for distributor delivery time stood at 49.6%, up 0.3 percentage points month on month.
Non-manufacturing index up
China’s non-manufacturing commercial index, which includes services and construction sub-indexes, came in at 50.3% in August, up from 50.2% in July, suggesting that the non-manufacturing sector expanded at a faster pace, the NBS data indicated.
The commercial activity index for construction stood at 50.6%, down 0.6 percentage points month on month. The commercial activity index for services came in at 50.2%, up 0.2 percentage points from the previous month, the NBS data showed.
The commercial activity indexes for railway transport, air transport, postal services, broadcasting and television, satellite transmission services, culture, sports and entertainment were all above 55% in August, suggesting high prosperity for these sectors.
However, the index for the property sector was still below the 50% mark, the NBS said.
