China's factory activity
expanded at a slower pace in February as workers took break during the
country's biggest national holiday.
The purchasing managers' index
(PMI) for China's manufacturing sector came in at 50.6 in February, down
0.7 from a month earlier, data from the National Bureau of Statistics
(NBS) showed Sunday.
The official PMI missed Reuter's
forecast of 51.1 and marked four consecutive months of slower expansion
since November, but remains above the 50-point mark indicating growth
since last March.
China's seven-day holiday Spring
Festival, which started on February 11, has greatly impacted factory
production, said Zhao Qinghe, senior NBS statistician.
The sub-index of production and
new orders stood at 51.9 and 51.5, dropping 1.6 and 0.8 respectively
from last month. However, industries such as pharmaceutical, general
equipment and electrical machinery equipment expanded faster than the
overall manufacturing industry in February.
The prosperity of imports and
exports has declined. The sub-index of exports dropped 1.4 to 48.8. Zhao
attributed the decrease in foreign trade business to the slowdown of
enterprises' production and purchasing during the holiday.
The increase in the cost of raw
materials is also a factor slowing the expansion, according to Zhao. A
sub-index for the purchase prices of major raw materials stood at 66.7,
showing a pressure on enterprises' purchasing.
Some manufacturing sector firms
have also seen increasing pressure from a shortage of workers and rising
labor costs, said Zhao.
Non-manufacturing PMI also
showed a slower expansion, decreasing by 1 percentage points to 51.4 in
February. Also, the business activity index of the services sector saw a
pronounced slide to 50.8, 0.3 percentage points lower than that of last
month.
"It shows that the service
industry continues to expand, but the rate has narrowed," said Zhao,
adding that the enterprises are optimistic about the service industry
based on NBS' survey.
Despite the grave and complex
challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, China has presented a
V-shaped recovery thanks to its strict containment on the spread of the
virus.
China as the second largest
economy achieved a 2.3-percent growth last year, the only major economy
in the world that pocketed positive economic growth.
Source: CGTN |