China’s factory output losing steam

Bangkok: A survey of factory managers in China shows that manufacturing contracted in December in the latest sign the world’s No. 2 economy remains sluggish.

The official purchasing managers index, or PMI, fell to 49 last month in what officials said was evidence of weak demand, the National Bureau of Statistics reported on Sunday. It was the third straight month of contraction.

The PMI is on a scale up to 100 where 50 marks the cutoff between expansion and contraction.

The index fell in eight of the past nine months, with an increase only in September. In November, the index was at 49.4, down from 49.5 the month before. Despite unexpectedly prolonged weakness after the pandemic, China’s economy grew at a 5.2 per cent pace in the first three quarters of the year and showed signs of improvement in November, with factory output and retail sales rising.