Manufacturing PMI

In April 2020, China’s manufacturing PMI was 50.8%, down by 1.2 percentage points from the previous month according to National Bureau of Statistics of China.

The PMI of large and medium was 51.1% and 50.2% respectively, down 1.5 and 1.3 percentage points; small enterprises PMI was 51.0%, 0.1 percentage point higher than that of last month.

The five sub-indices composing PMI, the production index, new orders index, employment index, and supplier distribution time index were all above the threshold while the main raw materials inventory index stayed below the threshold.

• Production index was 53.7%, down by 0.4 percentage point from last month but still above 50.0%, indicating that the manufacturing production continually increased month on month.
• New orders index was 50.2%, down by 1.8 percentage points from last month, indicating that the growth rate of manufacturing market demand narrowed on a month on month basis.
• Main raw materials inventory index was 48.2%, lower 0.8 percentage point than last month, indicating that the pace of decline of main raw material inventory in the manufacturing industry had enlarged.
• The employment index was 50.2%, dropped by 0.7 percentage point than last month but still higher than the threshold, indicating that the number of manufacturing enterprises returning to work had increased continually.
• Supplier distribution time index was 50.1%, rose by 1.9 percentage points than last month, indicating that the delivery time of raw material suppliers in the manufacturing industry was faster than last month.

Non-manufacturing PMI

In April 2020, China’s non-manufacturing business activities index was 53.2%, up by 0.9 percentage point than the previous month.

The construction business activity index was 59.7%, up by 4.6 percentage points. The service business activity index was 52.1%, up by 0.3 percentage point from last month.

The business activity index of the retail industry, catering industry, information transmission software, and information technology service was more than 55.0% while that of the accommodation industry, culture, sports and entertainment industry, and residential service industry was less than 45.0%.

The new orders index was 52.1%, up by 2.9 percentage points from the previous month. The new order index of construction industry was 53.2%, up by 4.8 percentage points over last month; that of service industry was 51.9%, which rose by 2.6 percentage points from March 2020.

The input price index was 49.0%, 0.4 percentage point lower than that of last month and still stayed below the threshold, indicating that the overall input price used by non-manufacturing enterprises for business activities was continually decreasing.

The construction industry input price index was 49.3%, 3.2 percentage points lower than the previous month; the service industry input price index was 48.9%, unchanged over March.

The sales price index was 45.4%, down by 0.7 percentage point, indicating that the overall decline of sales price of non-manufacturing industry had enlarged.

The sales price index of the construction industry was 50.2%, down by 2.3 percentage points from last month; the sales price index of the service industry was 44.6%, down by 0.3 percentage point from last month.

The employment index was 48.6%, up by 0.9 percentage point from the previous month. In terms of industry, the employment index of the construction industry was 57.1%, up by 4.0 percentage points from last month; that of service industry was 47.1%, rose by 0.4 percentage point from last month.

Business activities expectation index was 60.1%, higher 2.8 percentage points than last month. The business activities expectation index in construction industry was 65.4%, 5.5 percentage points higher; that of service industry was 59.2%, 2.4 percentage points higher than last month.

In April 2020, the comprehensive PMI output index was 53.4%, 0.4 percentage point higher than that of March 2020.

Weak demand has prompted manufacturers to reduce their payrolls at a faster pace in April, according to a Caixin survey showed, while companies slashed their selling prices for the third straight month. The contraction seen in the Caixin survey was worse than China’s official factory PMI.

Only China saw any output growth in April, and even here the rise was muted due to falling demand, notably for exports. All other countries saw output trends deteriorate, with record rates of decline recorded in 26 of the 32 countries surveyed by IHS Markit.

In January 2015, China’s manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) was 49.8%, 0.3 percentage points lower over last month according to National Bureau of Statistics of China.

In view of the sizes of enterprises, the PMI of large-sized enterprises was 50.3 percent, decreased 1.1 percentage points month-on-month, continued to stay above the threshold, and keep expanding; that of medium-sized and small-sized enterprises were 49.9 and 46.4 percent respectively, up by 1.2 and 0.9 percentage points month-on-month, and the reduction had narrowed to varying degrees.

Among the five sub-indices composing PMI, the production index, new orders index and supplier delivery time index were higher than the threshold, while the employed person index and main raw materials inventory index were lower than the threshold.

Production index was 51.7 percent, decreased 0.5 percentage points month-on-month, and was higher than the threshold, indicating that the manufacturing production continued to maintain expanding, while the pace slowed down.

New orders index was 50.2 percent, decreased 0.2 percentage points month-on-month, and stayed above the threshold, showing that the growth rate of market demand of manufacturing sector dropped slightly.

Employed person index was 47.9 percent, decreased 0.2 percentage point month-on-month, continued to stay below threshold, indicating that the labor employment of manufacturing enterprises reduced.

Main raw materials inventory index was 47.3 percent, decreased 0.2 percentage points over last month, stayed below the threshold, indicating that the raw material inventory for manufacturing production continued to fall.

Supplier delivery time index was 50.2 percent, increased 0.3 percentage points month-on-month, and rose over the threshold, indicating that the delivery time of manufacturing raw material suppliers had been accelerated.

Also read: China Economy Statistics for 2014

In November 2014, China’s manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) was 50.3%, 0.5 percentage points lower over last month according to National Bureau of Statistics China.

The PMI of large-sized enterprises was 51.6%, decreased 0.3 percentage points month-on-month, continued to stay above the threshold; that of medium-sized and small-sized enterprises were 48.4% and 47.6% respectively, down by 0.7 and 0.9 percentage points respectively, both stayed below the threshold.

In November, among the five sub-indices composing PMI, the production index, new orders index and supplier delivery time index were higher than the threshold, while the employed person index and main raw materials inventory index were lower than the threshold.

• Production index was 52.5%, decreased 0.6 percentage points month-on-month, still stayed above the threshold, indicating a continued expansion of manufacturing production, while the growth had slowed.
• New orders index was 50.9%, decreased 0.7 percentage points month-on-month, still higher than the threshold, showing that the market demand of manufacturing sector continued to increase, with a narrowed growth rate.
• Employed person index was 48.2%, decreased 0.2 percentage points month-on-month, continued to stay below threshold, indicating that the labor employment of manufacturing enterprises reduced.
• Main raw materials inventory index was 47.7%, decreased 0.7 percentage points over last month, continued to stay below the threshold, indicating that the raw material inventory for manufacturing production continued to fall.
• Supplier delivery time index was 50.3%, increased 0.2 percentage points month-on-month, higher than the threshold, indicating that the delivery time of manufacturing raw material suppliers had been accelerated.

Also read: China Total Retail Sales Exceeded 2.39 Trillion Yuan in Oct 2014

In October 2014, China’s manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) was 50.8%, 0.3 percentage points lower over last month according to National Bureau of Statistics China.

The PMI of large-sized enterprises was 51.9%, slightly decreased 0.1 percentage point month-on-month, continued to stay above the threshold, and was the main factor to keep PMI expanding; that of medium-sized enterprises was 49.1%, down by 0.9 percentage points month-on-month, and dropped below the threshold; that of small-sized enterprises was 48.5%, down by 0.1 percentage point month-on-month, and continued to stay in the contraction range.

In October, among the five sub-indices composing PMI, the production index, new orders index and supplier delivery time index were above the threshold, while the employed person index and main raw materials inventory index were below the threshold.

• Production index was 53.1%, decreased 0.5 percentage points month-on-month, and continued to stay above the threshold
• New orders index was 51.6%, decreased 0.6 percentage points month-on-month, still higher than the threshold. New export orders index was 49.9%, decreased 0.3 percentage points month-on-month, and got close to the threshold.
• Employed person index was 48.4%, increased 0.2 percentage points month-on-month, still below threshold.
• Main raw materials inventory index was 48.4%, decreased 0.4 percentage points over last month, and was below the threshold, indicating that many enterprises were still experiencing de-stocking
• Supplier delivery time index was 50.1%, kept at the same level over last month, slightly higher than the threshold.
• Purchase quantity index was 50.7%, 0.5 percentage points lower than that in last month, and stayed above the threshold.
• Main raw material purchase price index was 45.1%, a decrease of 2.3 percentage points month-on-month.
• Import index was 47.9%, went down by 0.1 percentage point month-on-month, and continued to stay below the threshold.
• Finished goods inventory index was 47.9%, increased 0.7 percentage points over last month, still below the threshold.
• Open orders index was 44.7%, a decrease of 0.9 percentage points over last month, and stayed below the threshold.

Production and business activities expectation index was 54.1%, decreased 1.9 percentage points month-on-month, but more than half of enterprises were still optimistic for the production and business activities expectation within the next three months.

China Online Retail Sales Exceeded 1.8 Trillion Yuan, 9.64% of Total Retail from Jan to Sep 2014

Purchasing managers index (PMI) data, released by HSBC covering both manufacturing and services, signalled a further expansion of Chinese business activity in September 2014.

HSBC’s PMI data for September signalled slightly weaker expansions of both manufacturing and services business activity. And, the latest PMI data indicated the weakest increase in manufacturing output in the current four-month sequence of expansion. Meanwhile, service sector business activity growth eased from August’s recent peak but remained solid overall. The latter was signalled by the HSBC China Services Business Activity Index posting at 53.5 in September, down from 54.1 in August.

New business intakes continued to increase across both the manufacturing and service sectors in September. However, the rate of new order growth at manufacturing firms was only moderate. Meanwhile, new order books expanded at a solid pace at service sector companies, despite the rate of increase easing since August’s 19-month high.

Staffing levels rose for the thirteenth successive month at service providers in September, while workforce numbers declined modestly at manufacturers. The rate of job creation at service sector firms was similar to that recorded in the preceding three months and moderate overall. At the composite level, employment declined for the second month in a row, albeit marginally.

Backlogs of work rose for the fourth month running at manufacturers in September. In contrast, unfinished business declined for a third consecutive month at service sector firms. That said, the rate of backlog depletion eased from August’s 21-month record and was only modest. As a result, unfinished work volumes were unchanged from August at the composite level.

Service sector firms in China saw a further rise in average input costs in September. However, the rate of inflation was moderate and the weakest since April. Meanwhile, cost burdens faced by manufacturers fell at a solid pace.

Consequently, input costs declined for the first time in five months at the composite level, though only slightly. Latest data signalled divergent output prices trends across the manufacturing and service sectors, with charges falling markedly at manufacturing firms, while service providers raised their tariffs for the second straight month. That said, the rate of inflation was similar to August and only fractional.

At the composite level, output prices fell modestly over the month. Service providers were optimistic towards the 12-month business outlook, with the degree of positive sentiment rising to a six-month high in September. Moreover, 31% of panellists forecast increased activity over the next year.