Guangzhou (JLC), October 31, 2023 – China's manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) fell in October, dropping below the critical 50% mark, a line that separates growth from contraction, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced on October 31.
The manufacturing PMI came in at 49.5% in October, down 0.7 percentage points from September, the NBS data showed.
The retreat was largely due to seasonal factors. The actual working days in October was fewer than in September because of the week-long National Day holiday. Judging from historical patterns, especially since 2017, October’s PMI were lower than that in September of the same year. In addition, consumer demand may have dropped slightly after the Golden Week holiday.
A breakdown of October’s figures showed that the sub-index for production stood at 50.9%, a month-on-month drop of 1.8 percentage points, signaling that the production activities retreated.
The sub-index for new orders fell to 49.5%, down 1.0 percentage points on month, showing that the market demand shrank somewhat.
Meanwhile, the sub-index for raw material inventories came in at 48.2%, down 0.3 percentage points on month. The sub-index for employment stood at 48.0%, down 0.1 percentage points from the previous month. The sub-index for distributor delivery time came in at 50.2%, down 0.6 percentage points from September.
Non-manufacturing PMI drops
China’s non-manufacturing PMI came in at 50.6% in October, down from 51.7% in September, suggesting that the non-manufacturing sector expanded at a slower pace than in the previous month, the NBS data indicated.
The commercial activity index for construction came in at 53.5%, down 2.7 percentage points on month. The commercial activity index for services dropped 0.8 percentage points on month to 50.1%, the NBS data showed.
The commercial activity indexes for railway transport, air transport, postal services, telecommunications, radio and television, satellite services were all above 60% in October, suggesting high prosperity for these sectors, thanks to the Golden Week holiday.
However, the index for the property sector was still below the 50% mark in October, the NBS said.
