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Private manufacturing shrinks for second straight month

CHINA’S manufacturing activity in private and export-oriented firms contracted for the second consecutive month in February, a survey showed this morning.

The HSBC Purchasing Managers' Index, which measures operating conditions largely in private companies, posted at 48.5 last month, down from 49.5 in January but better than the preliminary reading of 48.3, according to HSBC Holdings plc and research firm Markit.

A reading below 50 means contraction.

Qu Hongbin, chief economist for China at HSBC, said the final reading of the HSBC PMI confirmed the weakness of manufacturing growth.

"Signs become clear that risks to GDP growth are tilting to the downside," Qu said. "This calls for policy fine-tuning measures to stabilize market expectations and steady the pace of growth in the coming quarters."

The official Purchasing Managers' Index, released on Saturday by the National Bureau of Statistics and the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing, dropped to 50.2 in February from 50.5 a month earlier. The official PMI is slanted towards state-owned manufacturers.




 

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