|
China
final HSBC factory PMI dips to three-month low in December
Send a link to a friend
[January 02, 2014]
BEIJING (Reuters) — China's factory
activity expanded at the slowest pace in three months in December,
weighed down by shrinking export orders, a private survey showed on
Thursday, consistent with views the economy's growth rate has
moderated into the end of the year.
|
|
 The final HSBC/Markit manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI)
slipped to 50.5 in December from 50.8 in November, unchanged from a
preliminary reading.
"The recovering momentum since August 2013 is continuing into 2014,
in our view," said Hongbin Qu, chief China economist at HSBC.
"With inflation still benign, we expect the current monetary and
fiscal policy to remain in place to support growth," he added.
A sub-index measuring new export orders touched a four-month low of
49.1 in December, the first time since August that it dropped below
the 50-point watershed that separates expansion from contraction,
suggesting unsteady external demand.
China's total exports and imports are expected to reach $4.14
trillion in 2013, Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng has said. That would
indicate annual trade growth of 7 percent, a touch lower than the
official target of 8 percent.
The PMI survey also showed the output sub-index eased in December
from November's eight-month high, showing moderate growth.
[to top of second column] |
China's official manufacturing PMI, released on Wednesday, showed
growth in factories slowed slightly in December as export orders and
output weakened, though the figure remained above the line
separating expansion from contraction.
Beijing has made it clear that it would accept slower growth as it
pushes ahead with structural reforms to steer the world's
second-largest economy towards more sustainable growth after three
decades of breakneck expansion.
Top leaders have pledged to maintain prudent monetary policy and
proactive fiscal policy in 2014 to achieve reasonable economic
growth.
(Reporting by Aileen Wang and Jonathan
Standing)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
