Chinese manufacturing downturn persists into second month
Employees working on a car assembly line at a factory of Chinese carmaker Li Auto in Changzhou, in eastern China's Jiangsu province. (Photo by AFP) / CHINA OUT
ALBAWABA - The overall rate Chinese manufacturing activity has declined for the second consecutive month in June, Reuters reports citing official survey, while the level of service activity reached its lowest point in five months.
On Sunday, the National Bureau of Statistics reported that the official manufacturing purchasing manager index, which is an important measure of factory output, had reached a value of 49.5, a figure that is identical to the one seen in May, which stood in accordance with the forecasts made by analysts in surveys conducted by both Bloomberg and Reuters.
As demand decreased, a sub-index of freshly placed orders at factories fell to 49.5, while the metric assessing new orders for export remained steady at 48.3. Furthermore, the non-manufacturing measure of activity in building and service industries decreased to 50.5, according to the statistics office, down from a level of 51.1 in May.
The weakening in the manufacturing industry is a troubling indication for the world's second-biggest economy, which has failed to recoup speed since late 2022, according to AFP, when Beijing abandoned severe economic regulations that had hampered development.
The United States and the European Union, two of China's biggest export customers, have expressed worries about a marked rise in low-cost Chinese exports, intensifying trade tensions already present. Both western giants have earlier threatened to levy tariffs over Chinese exports, contending that significant subsidies from Beijing are unjustly supporting these exports.
Midway through the month of July, Chinese officials are scheduled to meet in Beijing, for a widely anticipated political conference that is predicted to center on the topic of economic revival.
Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).