The manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) fell 0.4 percentage points from the previous month to 48.8 percent in May, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). In May, the non-manufacturing business activity index was 54.5 percent, down 1.9 percentage points from the previous month, still above the critical point, and the non-manufacturing sector continued to recover growth. In this regard, the National Bureau of Statistics service Survey Center senior statistician Zhao Qinghe to understand.

China’s manufacturing purchasing managers index running

The purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for the manufacturing sector fell 0.4 percentage points to 48.8 percent in May, below the critical point, showing a slight decline in the manufacturing sector.

In terms of business size, the PMI of large companies stood at 50.0%, up 0.7 percentage points from the previous month. The PMI of medium and small businesses was 47.6 percent and 47.9 percent, respectively, down 1.6 and 1.1 percentage points from the previous month, below the critical point.

In terms of sub-indexes, among the five sub-indexes that constitute manufacturing PMI, the supplier delivery time index is higher than the critical point, while the production index, new orders index, raw material inventory index and employment index are all lower than the critical point.

The production index was 49.6 percent, down 0.6 percentage points from the previous month, indicating a slowdown in manufacturing activity.

The new orders index was 48.3 percent, down 0.5 percentage points from the previous month, indicating that demand in the manufacturing market continues to fall.

The raw material inventory index was 47.6 percent, down 0.3 percentage points from the previous month, indicating that the decline of major raw material inventories in the manufacturing sector widened.

The employment index was 48.4 percent, down 0.4 percentage points from the previous month, indicating a decline in the employment conditions of manufacturing companies.

The supplier delivery time index was 50.5 percent, up 0.2 percentage points from the previous month, indicating that the delivery time of raw material suppliers in the manufacturing sector continued to accelerate.