China:Lower official PMIs in December

Main points:

China’s NBS December manufacturing PMI came in at 51.4, lower than Novemberbut remained at a relatively high level. Most of the sub-indexes weakened - theproduction index went down to 53.3 from 53.9 in November. The new order subindexwas unchanged in December vs. November. Trade indicators were weaker: Theexport orders index fell to 50.1 from 50.3 in November, and the import indexdeclined to 50.3 from 50.6 previously. Inventory indicators decreased: Raw materialinventory was down to 48.0 from 48.4 in November, and finished goods inventorymoderated to 44.4 from 45.9 in November. The employment index was lower at 48.9vs. 49.2 in November. On the other hand, the upward trend in inflation indicatorcontinued in December: The input prices index increased to 69.6, from 68.3 inNovember. The suppliers’ delivery times were up to 50.0 vs. 49.7 in November.

Manufacturing PMI by enterprise size data showed the moderation in headline PMIwas broadly based - large, medium and small enterprises manufacturing PMIs alldeclined in December, compared with November.

The official non-manufacturing PMI (which covers the construction and servicesectors) also fell in December to 54.5 from 54.7 in November, due to a lower servicePMI. The service sector PMI moderated to 53.2 from 53.7 in November.

Construction PMI went up to 61.9 from 60.4 in November.