China's manufacturing PMI at 49.3, non-manufacturing PMI at 49.7 in October

China's purchasing managers' index (PMI) for the manufacturing sector came in at 49.3 in October, down 0.8 percentage points from the previous month, while the non-manufacturing PMI stood at 49.7, down 0.5 percentage points, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing on Saturday.

The manufacturing index slipped below the 50-point threshold separating expansion from contraction. Huo Lihui, chief statistician with the Service Industry Survey Center of the NBS attribute the decline mainly to seasonal factors, including a pullback in overseas orders following a surge in the previous month, moderating consumer demand after the holiday period and a seasonal slowdown in the basic raw materials sector.

Despite the overall dip, new growth drivers continued to show resilience. Equipment manufacturing and high-tech manufacturing maintained expansion, helping cushion the impact of weakness in traditional industries.

On the demand side, the new orders sub-index fell 1.1 percentage points month on month to 49.4%. The production sub-index dropped 1.9 percentage points to 49.8%, indicating broadly stable production activity.

Price indicators also moderated in October. The sub-index for raw material purchasing prices fell 4 percentage points to 56.8%, while the producer prices sub-index declined 2.3 percentage points to 51.7%. Both remained above their levels a year earlier, suggesting that industrial product prices were still relatively high.

(Cover via VCG)