HONG KONG: Chinese manufacturing remained weak last month with small and mid-sized private businesses suffering a bigger share of the pain, two surveys indicated, adding to an uncertain outlook for the world’s No. 2 economy.
The official China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing’s manufacturing index strengthened slightly to 50.3 from June’s 50.1. Separately, the private HSBC purchasing managers’ index (PMI) fell to an 11-month low of 47.7 from 48.2 in June. Both use a 100-point scale on which numbers below 50 indicate contraction.