China’s manufacturing expanded at a slower pace last month, joining weaker-than-anticipated credit, production and investment data in suggesting the economy is losing momentum.
The Purchasing Managers’ Index (MXAP) was at 51.1 for August, the National Bureau of Statistics and China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said today in Beijing, missing the median 51.2 estimate in a Bloomberg News survey. The final reading of a separate manufacturing gauge issued by HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics was 50.2. Both readings dropped from 51.7 in July and remain above 50, indicating expansion.
A pullback in manufacturing, coming as the property market slumps, adds pressure on the government to step up efforts to meet its expansion target of 7.5 percent this year. More stimulus measures will be announced in the next few weeks, said Lu Ting, Bank of America Corp.’s Hong Kong-based head of Greater China economics.
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