NBS: China’s Jan manufacturing PMI slides to 51.3

The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for China’s manufacturing industry eased for the second month in January by another 0.6 basis point on month to 51.3, or in the expansion zone for the eleventh month, though the pace of expansion slowed down, as the resurgence of the COVID-19, Zhao Qinghe, senior statistician of the country’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) was quoted explaining in the release on January 31.

“It is a traditional low season for China’s manufacturing industry around the Chinese New Year holiday, before and after, and the resurgence of the pandemic in some regions of China has affected the production or business of some local enterprises, hence the slow-down,” he said. In January, the recoveries in