Manufacturing in China contracted for a fifth consecutive month in February, according to an official survey of factory managers released last week, reflecting persistent weakness in the economy ahead of annual legislative meetings where officials are expected to boost policy support.
The official purchasing managers index, or PMI, fell to 49.1 in February from 49.2 the month before. The PMI is on a scale up to 100 where 50 marks the cutoff between expansion and contraction.
The manufacturing PMI has fallen in ten of the past eleven months, rising only in September.
February’s reading comes in spite of Beijing’s recent measures to shore up the economy, including reducing a lending rate that benchmarks home loans and cutting banks’ reserve requirements to boost lending.
A separate survey by financial news outlet Caixin found that manufacturing PMI edged up from 50.8 to 50.9.
“We think it makes sense to average across both PMIs to gauge conditions in industry,” Capital Economics’ Huang Zichun said.
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