This photo taken on January 30, 2020 shows workers producing disinfectant at a factory in Xiaogan in China’s central Hubei province, to support the supply of medical materials during the virus outbreak in Hubei’s city of Wuhan.
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A private survey showed China’s manufacturing activity in January expanded at its slowest pace since August.
On Monday, Markit/Caixin said its manufacturing PMI came in at 51.1 for the month of January, said IHS Markit and Caixin in a press release.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected the Markit/Caixin manufacturing PMI to come in at 51.3.
The Markit/Caixin manufacturing PMI — a measure of factory activity — was 51.5 in December.
PMI readings above 50 indicate expansion, while those below that level signal contraction.
Slow demand dragged on manufacturing activity, with total new orders weakening to a level not seen since September 2019, said Zhengsheng Zhong, director of macroeconomic analysis at Caixin subsidiary CEBM Group.
On Friday, China’s National Bureau of Statistics said the country’s official manufacturing PMI came in at 50.0 for the month of January — an indication of stalled activity.
The bureau said that the impact of the ongoing coronavirus outbreak was not fully reflected in the survey, which was conducted before Jan. 20.
Markit and Caixin did not say when their survey was conducted, but CEBM’s Zhong said China’s economy will be impacted by the coronavirus epidemic in the near term.
Before the outbreak, China’s economy had already been affected by the country’s long-drawn trade war with the U.S.
The official PMI survey typically polls a large proportion of big businesses and state-owned enterprises while the private manufacturing PMI survey by Markit/Caixin features a bigger mix of small- and medium-sized firms.