Chinese economy showed signs to slowing down at the start of the year with manufacturing slipping and resurgence of COVID-19 outbreak hampering consumer spending.
The official purchasing manager’s survey released on Sunday showed a moderation in factory production and services in January.
The official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index declined to 50.1, the National Bureau of Statistics said Sunday. On the other hand, the non-manufacturing gauge, which measures activity in the construction and services sectors, fell to 51.1.
The survey showed small business bore the most pain with private index dropping to its lowest in almost two years.
“The weak PMI indicates the policy easing measures from the government have not yet been passed to the real economy,” Zhiwei Zhang, chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management Ltd., wrote in a noteas reported by Bloomberg. “We expect the government will step up policy support in coming months, particularly through more fiscal spending.”
