Chinese Economy Remains Robust Despite Caixin Services PMI Falls Slightly, Show Survey Results
Xu Wei
DATE:  Mar 05 2018
/ SOURCE:  Yicai
Chinese Economy Remains Robust Despite Caixin Services PMI Falls Slightly, Show Survey Results Chinese Economy Remains Robust Despite Caixin Services PMI Falls Slightly, Show Survey Results

(Yicai Global) March 5 -- China's services sector remained robust last month despite relative slowdown, marking the 18th straight month in companies' hiring spree, a survey showed. However, China's Caixin Services Purchasing Managers Index, or PMI, fell last month from its nearly six-year high.

Caixin Services PMI for February fell to 54.2 last month, lower than January's 54.7 which was the highest in nearly six years. It shows that China's overall economic growth slowed down last month but was still robust, said the market intelligence firm IHS Markit, which jointly conducted the survey. The index was well above the 50-point benchmark.

China's official composite PMI output index was 52.9 in February, down 1.7 percentage points from the previous month, said the national bureau of statistics. The week-long Chinese New Year holiday impacts on economic indicators early in the year, say observers.

"Caixin services PMI registered 54.2 in February, a slight decrease of 0.5 from last month's high. The drop in the new business index indicates a cooling of the fiery demand in the service sector. Under such circumstances, the input price index also declined last month from its previous peak but the consumer price index continued to fluctuate upwards, reflecting improvement in the profitability of the service industry," said Zhong Zhengsheng, head of macroeconomic research at Caixin think tank CEBM.

As a result, the operating index reflecting the manufacturers' expectation for the next 12 months rose in February. Caixin China's composite output index decreased from last month's high, and manufacturing output and service business indexes all fell slightly from the previous month, but the manufacturing demand is still relatively stable, Zhong said. The upward trend of service industry costs has also slowed down, and the steady state of the macro economy has not wavered, he added.

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Keywords:   PMI,Caixin,Growth,Services Sector,Employment