China’s July manufacturing PMI falls below expectations

According to media reports, data released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics showed that the country’s official manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) declined to the reading of 51.4 in July, falling below economists’ expectations of 51.6 in a survey by Reuters. The July reading is also down from June’s reading of 51.7. Any figure above 50 represents an expansion while any figure below 50 shows a contraction.

The decline was attributed to weaker export demand as well as unfavorable weather conditions and maintenance works at some plants.

The latest data showed that an index for new export orders slipped to 50.9 in July from a reading of 52.0 in June, pushing the index for overall factory orders down to 52.8 from 53.1. In addition, growth in the services sector also slowed to 54.5 in July from a three-month high of 54.9 in June.

However, an index for the country’s construction sector posted visible increase to a reading of 62.5 from 61.4 in the previous month on the back of the government’s investment in new infrastructure projects.