China's purchasing managers' index (PMI) for its domestic manufacturing sector was at 50.1 percent in February this year, down 0.3 percentage points compared to January, according to the figures released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on March 1.
As regards the various sub-indices, all of them indicated month-on-month decreases. In the given month the production index for China’s manufacturing sector decreased by 0.1 percentage point month on month to 51.2 percent, while the new order index for the sector declined 1.5 percentage points compared to the previous month to 50.1 percent. The raw material inventory index for China’s manufacturing sector was 49.5 percent, indicating a month-on-month decrease of 0.6 percentage points.
Also in February, the input price index of the main raw materials for the Chinese manufacturing sector was down 1.7 percentage points to 55.5 percent from a month earlier. The employment index for China’s manufacturing sector stood at 47.6 percent, down 0.2 percentage points compared to January, while the supplier delivery time index for the sector in question was at 48.3 percent, down 1.7 percentage points month on month.
Meanwhile, in February, the production index, the new order index and the employment index for the Chinese ferrous metal smelting and processing sector as well as for the petroleumprocessing and coking sector were all above 50 percent, while the input price index of main raw materials for these sectors remained above 55 percent.