China’s manufacturing industry surprisingly lost momentum in April

The mood in the Chinese industry cooled surprisingly sharply in April. This is evident from the official Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) published by the statistics bureau on Sunday.

Accordingly, the value for the manufacturing industry fell from 51.9 in the previous month to 49.2 in April. Not only was the mood barometer significantly weaker than economists had expected, but it also fell below the 50-point mark for the first time since December. Values ​​above 50 indicate growth, values ​​below that indicate a deterioration in sentiment.

The non-manufacturing index, which measures, among other things, activity in the services and construction sectors, fell from 58.2 in the previous month to 56.4 in April. While the value is still clearly in growth territory, it also underperformed than economists had predicted.

Experts attribute the chilled mood in Chinese manufacturing mainly to generally weak global demand. This now threatens to slow down the country’s economic recovery following the end of draconian “zero Covid” measures. In the first quarter of the current calendar year, the world’s second-largest economy grew at an unexpectedly strong rate of 4.5 percent compared to the same period last year. (aeg/sda/dpa)