China power crisis weighs on manufacturing activity, drops to lowest level since coronavirus outbreak

The official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) – a survey of sentiment among factory owners – fell to 49.6 in September, from 50.1 in August

China’s official non-manufacturing PMI – which measures morale in the services and construction sectors – rose to 53.2 in September

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China’s official non-manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) – which measures morale in the services and construction sectors – bounced back to 53.2 in September

Published: 9:08am, 30 Sep 2021Updated: 4:00pm, 30 Sep 2021

Activity in China’s manufacturing sector contracted in September due to “low sentiment of high energy-consuming industries”, data released on Thursday showed, but the services sector bounced back strongly from coronavirus outbreaks last month.

The official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) – a survey of sentiment among factory owners – fell to 49.6 in September from 50.1 in August, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed.

The figure was below the median forecast of a Bloomberg survey of analysts, which had predicted a fall to 50, as the index dropped to its lowest level since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in February 2020.

A reading above 50 indicates growth in sector activity, while a reading below the mark represents contraction. The lower the reading is below 50, the faster the pace of contraction.

In September, due to the low sentiment of high energy-consuming industries, the manufacturing PMI fell to below the threshold

Zhao Qinghe

But the official non-manufacturing PMI – which measures morale in the services and construction sectors – rose to 53.2 in September, from 47.5 in August. The increase was driven by a rise in the services index from 45.2 to 52.4. The construction index, though, dropped to 57.5 in September from 60.5.