China’s manufacturing steady in December with exporters lifted by US trade war truce

China’s official manufacturing PMI was 50.2 in December, with anything above 50 signalling growth in the sector

Non-manufacturing PMI dropped, showing some signs of weakness in the world’s second largest economy

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China’s official manufacturing PMI was 50.2 in December, with anything above 50 signalling growth in the sector. Photo: AP

Published: 9:06am, 31 Dec 2019Updated: 10:12pm, 31 Dec 2019

The mood among manufacturers in China was steady in December, amid a truce in the long-running trade war with the United States, data released on Tuesday showed.

However, in other sectors of the economy, including construction and services, the mood soured slightly, National Bureau of Statistics numbers showed.

The official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) – a gauge of sentiment among factory owners in the world’s second largest economy – was 50.2 in the last month of the decade, the same reading as in November and above a poll of economists conducted by Bloomberg which had predicted 50.1. This is the joint highest reading since March.

Anything above 50 is a sign of positive activity in the manufacturing economy, while below that mark signifies contraction.

The non-manufacturing PMI – a gauge of sentiment in the services and construction sectors – came in at 53.5 in December, below analysts’ expectations for a reading of 54.2. The figure was also down from November’s 54.2.

The composite PMI, a combined reading of both manufacturing and non-manufacturing, was 53.4, down from 53.7 in November.

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