China’s factory activity grows at slower pace in April as Beijing seeks to consolidate economic recovery
China’s factory activity remained in expansion territory for the second consecutive month in April, although the pace of the growth slowed slightly, as Beijing seeks to consolidate the overall economic recovery.
The official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) – a survey of sentiment among factory owners – stood at 50.4 in April compared to 50.8 in March, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Tuesday.
The figure remained above the watershed level of 50, indicating expanding activity, after the reading in March had ended five consecutive months of contraction.
Within the official manufacturing PMI, the subindex gauging new orders dropped to 51.1 from 53 in from the previous month, while the new export order subindex fell to 50.6 from 51.3, indicating that demand has not yet been fully consolidated.
Meanwhile, the production subindex stood at 52.9 in April, up slightly from 52.2 in March.
“Though economic activities continued to expand, more manufacturers are facing higher costs,” senior NBS statistician Zhao Qinghe said.
“The new order index and new export order index for industries including automobiles and electrical machinery and equipment are both above 53, indicating domestic and foreign market demand in related industries has increased.”
Meanwhile, China’s non-manufacturing PMI – a measurement of sentiment in the service and construction sectors – stood at 51.2 in April compared to 53 in March, representing the fifth straight month of expansion.
The official composite PMI – a combination of the manufacturing and non-manufacturing indices – fell to 51.7 in March from 52.7 in March.
Elsewhere, the Caixin/S&P Global manufacturing PMI also showed a similar upbeat sentiment, rising to 51.4 in April from 51.1 in March.
The Caixin/S&P PMI focuses more on small and medium-sized private manufacturing enterprises, while the official PMI represents a broader spectrum of the manufacturing sector, including large state-owned enterprises.
“Overall, in April, the manufacturing sector continued to improve, with accelerated expansion in supply and demand, sweetened by exceptional performance in overseas demand. Logistics and transportation functioned smoothly,” said Wang Zhe, senior economist at the Caixin Insight Group.
“Purchase quantity and inventories increased on a positive outlook among businesses. However, employment was yet to show improvement, and price levels remained low, particularly on the sales side, eating into profits.”
China’s economic performance in the first quarter surpassed market expectations, with steady growth in manufacturing and a gradual recovery in consumption
The upbeat results followed recent better-than-expected gross domestic product growth of 5.3 per cent in the first quarter, although retail sales and property investment remained weak links for the world’s second-largest economy.
“China’s economic performance in the first quarter surpassed market expectations, with steady growth in manufacturing and a gradual recovery in consumption,” added Wang.
“The strong start to the year is consistent with the Caixin manufacturing PMI, which has remained in the expansionary territory for six straight months.”
