International | Jun 01 2009
By Rudi Filapek-Vandyck
Two surveys into the health and business conditions for China’s manufacturing sector have crept closer to each other in May, but a negative result, as speculated by worried economists across the globe, has not eventuated.
China’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for May did fall from an earlier reported 53.5 in April, but at 53.1 the index has remained above 50 in May, indicating overall conditions remain positive. It was the third straight month that the official PMI, which is being released by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP), has generated a result above 50.
The reading for May compares with a record low of 38.8 recorded last November.
The China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP) carries out the survey on behalf of the National Bureau of Statistics.
Financial service provider CLSA carries out its own survey. CLSA’s PMI for May rose in May to 51.2 from 50.1 in April. (See also story “More Proof Chinese Growth Is Solidifying”, published earlier today).
CLSA believes there is now enough evidence in place to suggest that operating conditions in the Chinese manufacturing sector have stabilised, and that solid growth momentum may be building.