China’s manufacturing activity resumed in September – the official PMI always shows a contraction

China’s official gauge for manufacturing activities has shown a smaller contraction than expected in September, because Beijing intensified its efforts aimed at curbing industrial overcapacity in the middle of domestic demand and global trade disruptions.

The manufacturing purchasing managers index arrived at 49.8, according to a survey by the National Statistics Bureau, compared to expectations of 49.6. This reading, although contraction, was the strongest since March.

The official manufacturing of China PMI has remained below the growth in the contraction of the 50 benchmarks of the contraction since April, because the manufacturers are struggling with lukewarm domestic demand and the higher American rates that have harmed exports to the largest consumer market in the world.

Sub-index follow-up production has reached a six-month summit of 51.9 in September while the manufacturing activity resumed while new orders reached 49.7, according to the official press release. The index measuring the manufacturers’ stocks increased to 48.5, which indicates that stocks of materials shrinked at a slower rate.

The overall improvement of production has been motivated by the manufacture of equipment, high -tech and consumption products, with notable gains in production and new orders, said Lihi Huo, chief statistician of the National Bureau of Statistics, in a press release.

Private Surveyor Ratingdog also published his PMI manufacturer, with reading at 51.2 for September, beating economists’ forecasts for 50.2 in a Reuters survey, marking his highest level since May.

The increase in new orders, especially for exports, has led to improving production growth in September, the private rating said.

The non -manufacturing official PMI, which includes services and construction, dropped down to 52.9 in September from 53 in the previous month, while the general services of the general assessment spent at 50 to 50.3.

Private surveys, previously carried out by Caixin and S&P Global, have painted a better table than official polls in previous years, because they have focused more on export -oriented manufacturers.

The private RatingDog survey covers 650 manufacturers and collects responses in the second half each month while the official PMI examines a larger sample of more than 3,000 companies at the end of the month.

A list of economic data from China in recent weeks has underlined a slowdown in the second world economy, the growth in retail sales weakening for a third consecutive month and the consumer price index plunging again in the negative territory, highlighting slow domestic demand.

The industrial profits recorded a two -digit jump in August compared to the previous year while Beijing intensified efforts to slow down an overabundance of supply and excessive price wars, softening the deflation of wholesale prices.

A meeting of the Chinese Politburo – made up of high -level members of the Chinese Communist Party in power – in October should offer an indication of the Economic Policy of Beijing in response to the slowdown in the third quarter, said Zhiwei Zhang, president and chief economist of asset management.

“Since GDP growth was greater than 5% in the first half, the government can tolerate the slowdown of H2 as long as it does not compromise the growth objective of the whole year by 5%,” added Zhang.

The Chinese economy increased by 5.3% in the first half, putting the country on the right track to achieve its annual growth target of 5%.

Even if China’s economy has “challenged Doom-Sayers” on several occasions in the past, the achievement of an average growth of 4.5% from 2026 to 2035 will still be difficult, said Larry Hu, chief economist from China to Macquarie, who estimates that the current GDP of China by Capita, adjusted to inflation, is comparable to the end of the 1970s.