Manufacturing in China registers third consecutive month of contraction

A survey of factory managers in China shows that manufacturing contracted in December, the latest sign that the world’s second-largest economy world still weak.

The official Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to 49 last month in what officials said was evidence of weak demand, the US Treasury reported on Sunday. National Statistics Office. It was the third consecutive month of contraction. He PMI It is on a scale of up to 100, where 50 marks the limit between expansion and contraction.

The index fell in eight of the last nine months, and only rose in September. In November, the index was at 49.4, compared to 49.5 the previous month.

Despite unexpectedly prolonged weakness after the pandemic, the US economy China grew at a rate of 5.2% in the first three quarters of the year and showed signs of improvement in November, with an increase in factory production and retail sales.

In recent months, the government has increased spending on building ports and other infrastructure, cut interest rates and eased restrictions on home purchases to try to stimulate domestic demand that economists say is needed to sustain the economy. growth.

In his speech New Yearthe Chinese president Xi Jinping He said his country had achieved a “smooth transition” in the country’s response to the pandemic, which sometimes involved the closure of factories and entire or partial cities.

The economy of China has become “more resilient and dynamic than before,” Xi said in remarks carried by the official Xinhua news agency.

The global demand for manufactured products has been hit as central banks around the world have raised interest rates to combat inflation rates that have reached decades of high levels.

Price pressures have eased in recent months, but demand has not yet recovered to pre-pandemic levels. This has ramifications throughout the region, as supply chains linked to China They are scattered in many Asian countries. (With information from AP).