Guangzhou (JLC), August 31, 2023 – China's manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) came in at 49.7% in August, up 0.4 percentage points from July, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced on August 31.
The monthly growth indicated a continuous improvement in China’s manufacturing sector, the NBS said.
A breakdown of August’s figures showed that the sub-index for production stood at 51.9%, a month-on-month increase of 1.7 percentage points, signaling that production activities continued to recover.
The sub-index for new orders rose to 50.2%, up 0.7 percentage points on month, showing that the market demand improved somewhat.
Meanwhile, the sub-index for raw material inventories came in at 48.4%, up 0.2 percentage points on month. The sub-index for distributor delivery time came in at 51.6%, increasing 1.1 percentage points from July. The sub-index for employment stood at 48.0%, down 0.1 percentage points on month.
As JLC predicted, August’s manufacturing PMI moved closer to 50%, a line that separates growth from contraction, as China began to release a slew of stimulus measures to uplift the economy.
Non-manufacturing PMI inches down
China’s non-manufacturing PMI came in at 51.0% in August, down from 51.5% in July, but was still above the critical line of 50%, suggesting that the non-manufacturing sector was still expanding, but at a slower pace.
The commercial activity index for construction came in at 53.8%, up 2.6 percentage points on month. However, the commercial activity index for services dropped 1 percentage point on month to 50.5%, the NBS data showed.
The commercial activity indexes for the railway, aviation transportation, courier services, catering services, accommodations, sports and entertainment were all above 55% in August, suggesting high prosperity for these sectors. However, the indexes for real estate, insurance and capital market services were below the critical 50% mark, the NBS said.
