🇨🇳China’s October manufacturing purchasing managers’ index fell to 49.3, from 50.1 in September; high-technology manufacturing registered 51.3.

China’s official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) declined 0.8 points to 49.3, returning below the expansion threshold. The National Bureau of Statistics attributed the slowdown partly to demand released before the National Day holiday and a complex international environment; production and new-order indices fell to 49.8 and 49.4, respectively, while new export orders registered 48.7.

High-technology and equipment manufacturing remained expansionary at 51.3 and 50.6, respectively. Production and new-order indices for computer, communications and electronic equipment, and for railway, shipbuilding and aerospace equipment, were all 53.0 or higher; consumer-goods and energy-intensive manufacturing PMIs fell to 48.8 and 47.3.

Large manufacturers remained above the threshold at 50.2, down 0.4 points, while medium and small enterprises registered 48.4 and 47.5, down 1.3 and 1.4 points. Input-price and factory-gate-price indices declined 4.0 and 2.3 points to 56.8 and 51.7; both remained above 60 in several petroleum-, coal-, chemical-fiber-, rubber-, and plastics-related industries cited by the statistics bureau.

The non-manufacturing business-activity index fell to 49.7 from 50.2, and the composite output index declined to 49.7 from 50.7. Services registered 50.0, with internet software and information-technology services above 55.0, while construction registered 48.0; business-expectation indices remained expansionary at 55.2 for services and 52.3 for construction.