Private firms’ service activity slows
Print Edition
CHINA’S service activity in private companies grew slower in April as demand remained subdued, according to a survey yesterday, which contrasted with the performance in their state-owned counterparts.
The HSBC China Services Business Activity Index, a gauge of operating conditions in private service firms, posted 51.4 last month, down from 51.9 in March, according to HSBC Holdings plc and consulting firm Markit.
A reading above 50 means expansion, and the latest data signaled that growth was weak although they pointed at further expansion in both business activity and new businesses, the survey report said.
In contrast, China’s official non-manufacturing Business Activity Index, compiled by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing and slanted toward state-owned enterprises, rose 0.3 points from a month earlier to 54.8 in April, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
The components of the HSBC index showed that input prices eased to the weakest in 10 months and output charges contracted, evidence of deflationary pressures.
Also, employment and business hopes both fell to a seven-month low although new and outstanding business remained stable.
Qu Hongbin, chief economist for China at HSBC, said the indices suggested that the service sector is not growing fast enough to offset the manufacturing slowdown.
“We think the economy will continue on a modest path of expansion over the next few months,” Qu said.
China’s economic growth eased to 7.4 percent in the first quarter of this year to notch the slowest pace in 18 months.
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