Image Source : China Visual

BEIJING, March 1 (TMTPOST) —— The manufacturing purchasing managers' Index (PMI) for February 2023 recorded a growth of 2.5 percentage points to 52.6, according to the report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) of China on Wednesday.

The PMI of large, medium, and small enterprises was 53.7%, 52.0%, and 51.2% respectively, both higher than the threshold, up from 1.4, 3.4, and 4.0 percentage points in the previous month.

In terms of sub-index, among the five sub-indexes that constitute manufacturing PMI, the production index, new orders index, employment index, and supplier delivery time index all stay above the threshold, while the raw material inventory index is lower than the threshold.

In February, the non-manufacturing business activity index reached 56.3%, up 1.9 percentage points compared with the previous month, higher than the threshold, indicating a positive recovery trend for the non-manufacturing industry.

By industry, the construction business activity index was 60.2 percent, up 3.8 percentage points from the previous month.  The business activity index for the service sector was 55.6 percent, up 1.6 percentage points from the previous month.  The business activity index of railway transportation, air transportation, postal express, accommodation, leasing, and business service industries was above 60.0%.  The index of wholesale, insurance and other business activities all stay below the threshold.

The new orders index stood at 55.8 percent, up 3.3 percentage points from the previous month and above the threshold, indicating that demand in the non-manufacturing market continues to pick up.

The input price index was 51.1%, down 0.4 percentage points from the previous month, higher than the threshold, indicating that the overall increase in the price of input goods used by non-manufacturing enterprises for business activities slowed down.

The sales price index was 50.8%, up 2.5 percentage points from the previous month and above the threshold, indicating that the non-manufacturing sales prices have increased.  By industry, the construction industry sales price index was 53.6 percent, up 0.8 percentage points from the previous month.  The sales price index for the service sector was 50.4 percent, up 2.9 percentage points from the previous month.

The employment index was 50.2 percent, up 3.5 percentage points from the previous month, indicating that non-manufacturing companies increased their employment from the previous month.  By industry, the index of construction workers was 58.6 percent, 5.5 percentage points higher than last month.  The index of service workers was 48.7 percent, up 3.2 percentage points from the previous month.

The business activity expectation index stood at 64.9%, which remains unchanged from the previous month and higher than the threshold, indicating that most non-manufacturing enterprises have increased confidence in the recent market development.  By industry, the expected index of business activities of the construction industry was 65.8 percent, down 2.4 percentage points from the previous month.  The expected index of service businesses was 64.8 percent, up 0.5 percentage points from the previous month.

In February, the comprehensive PMI output index stood at 56.4%, up 3.5 percentage points from the previous month and higher than the threshold, indicating that the overall expansion of production and operation activities of Chinese enterprises has accelerated.