Photo: Xinhua

China's Caixin Manufacturing PMI in February was 50.9, down from previous month of 51.5, showing a weakened recovery trend of manufacturing industry.

Although the data is in the expansion range for the tenth consecutive month, it has fallen for three consecutive months and has fallen to its lowest level since June 2020.

The data is also in line with the official manufacturing PMI leased on Sunday by National Bureau of Statistics, which said the data fell to a nine-month low of 50.6 from 51.3 in January, and the data was also slowed down for three consecutive months.

Manufacturing supply and demand continued to expand, but the expansion rate slowed down. 

The production index and new order index in February recorded their lowest values in the past ten and nine months, respectively. External demand continues to drag down aggregate demand, with the new export order index falling sharply below the line of 50 for the second consecutive month.

Affected by the slowdown in the growth rate of supply and demand, the job market continued to be under pressure. The employment index in February remained in the contraction range for the third consecutive month, and the rate of decline has expanded. 

The price index continues to remain high, and inflationary pressures continue to increase. Respondents said that the prices of raw materials, especially industrial metals, continue to rise rapidly, and transportation prices have also risen. The increase in cost-end prices was also partly transmitted to the demand side.

Despite the slowdown in the expansion of supply and demand, operators of manufacturing companies are confident that the domestic and international epidemic situation will improve. In February, the production and operation expectations index jumped to the second highest point since September 2014.

Wang Zhe, senior economist at Caixin think tank said the data showed that the recovery momentum of the manufacturing industry in February has further weakened, the growth of supply and demand has slowed, employment pressure has increased, while inflationary pressures have continued to increase. 

Global Times