China’s manufacturing activity edged lower in February and was down for the fifth consecutive month, reflecting sluggish momentum in the world’s second-largest economy as Beijing prepares to announce its annual growth target at next week’s meeting of its rubber stamp parliament.
The country’s official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index released on Friday was 49.1 for the month, slipping from a reading of 49.2 in January. A reading below 50 marks a contraction from the previous month.
The consistent weakness in the PMI — which has been below 50 every month since March except September — will add pressure on policymakers to announce more stimulus. The Chinese Communist party leadership body, the politburo, this week held a meeting in which it called for “proactive fiscal policy” to “be appropriately intensified”.