Chinese manufacturing activity slowed for the month of August, as the world’s second largest economy sees its growth reduce.
In the purchasing managers index (PMI) from the National Bureau of Statistics, China had a 51.1 rating, down from July’s 51.1.
Marking the first decline since slipping to 50.2 in February, a separate HSBC survey measured a reading of the same figure in August, down from an 18-month high of 51.7 in July and its lowest level in three months.
The results are credited by analysts as being a result of problems in the country’s property sectors well as reductions in stimulus measures taken by the country’s government to boost growth.
These measures included tax breaks for small businesses, increased infrastructure outlays and incentives for banks to lend to companies in rural areas.
“The weak PMI data suggest that China’s shallow growth recovery has started to lose momentum, likely because of the ongoing property market correction and a decline in the efficacy of policy easing due to structural problems in the economy,” economists at Nomura International said in a report.
But Julien Evans-Pritchard, China economist with Capital Economics, warned against reading too much into the slowing PMI.
“The weakness should not be cause for significant concern since it reflects a welcome correction in sectors which have suffered from overinvestment,” he said in a report.
