China PMI Slightly Up at 51.2 in Official Figures

Growth in China’s manufacturing sector probably steadied in September as factory orders held up, a Reuters poll showed, providing some welcome relief for those who worry the Chinese economy is quickly losing steam.

The official manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI)likely edged up slightly to 51.2 in September compared with August’s 51.1, leaving it comfortably above the 50-point level demarcating an expansion from a contraction on a monthly basis.

That may assure investors that the world’s second-biggest economy, which has stumbled this year, is not doing as badly as some feared. But at the same time, some analysts warned investors against thinking that growth would pick up markedly.

 
“It is good that it is above 50, but it is not that great,” Li Haitao, an economist at Guangdong Development Bank, said in reference to the PMI. “The trend has stayed weak.”

Hurt by unsteady exports, a housing downturn and cooling investment growth, the world’s second-largest economy has wobbled this year, raising doubts about whether it can grow by around 7.5 percent in 2014 as targeted by Beijing or whether it may be at risk of a sharper slowdown.

via Reuters

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