Struggle persists as overall economy slows: experts
China's manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) in October was unchanged from a month earlier, while the non-manufacturing PMI declined slightly, official data showed Sunday.
Experts said the manufacturing industry continues to struggle as the economy faces downward pressure.
October's manufacturing PMI, a gauge of factory activity, remained the same as September at 49.8, according to statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
A PMI reading above 50 suggests an expansion of manufacturing activity, while a reading below that level indicates a contraction.
October's manufacturing PMI showed production and market demand were flat and stable, and activity in the high-tech and consumer goods manufacturing sectors expanded, Zhao Qinghe, a senior statistician with the NBS, was quoted as saying in a statement posted Sunday on the agency's website.
The subindex measuring activity in the high-tech industry was at 54.6 in October and that for consumer goods reached 52.2, showing that both sectors experienced relatively fast growth, the NBS said.
Under the current economic climate, "maintaining stable growth is not easy," Xu Hongcai, director of the Department of Information under the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, told the Global Times Sunday.
The performance of the manufacturing sector in October is a positive message that the industry is not as bad as estimated, said Xu.
However, Tian Yun, chief editor of the China Macroeconomic Information Network said that even though the manufacturing PMI didn't fluctuate in October, it remained under 50, which means manufacturing activity is contracting.
"Given the economic environment, it is inevitable that the manufacturing industry faces hardships," Tian told the Global Times Sunday.
He said the major issue is that production and new orders are not picking up, even though the PMIs for both sectors remained above 50.
The subindex for production eased to 52.2 in October from 52.3 in September, while the October new orders subindex climbed to 50.3 from 50.2 a month earlier, data from the NBS showed.
Meanwhile, the non-manufacturing PMI, which tracks activity in such sectors as service and construction, fell to 53.1 in October from 53.4 in September, according to the NBS.
The non-manufacturing sector is in a better position than the manufacturing industry, said Xu, however, noting that the sector also faces challenges because some non-manufacturing industries are affected by the decline in manufacturing activity.
The subindex for the service sector fell 0.7 percentage point to 52.3 in October. The NBS attributed the decline to a poor performance in sectors that included wholesale activity and capital market services.
Both Xu and Tian said that some sectors experienced expansion in October, but they noted that in the long run, companies face hardships amid China's economic slowdown and structural adjustments.
