China’s Nov factory, services activities fall to 7-month lows on Covid curbs

The 50-point mark separates contraction from growth on a monthly basis.

China’s economy, already under pressure from a property slump and weakening global demand for Chinese goods, experienced a broad slowdown in October, adding to concerns about growth in the last quarter of 2022.

Chinese authorities this month rolled out a flurry of policies to prop up the struggling economy, including reserve requirement ratio cuts and Covid fine-tuning measures, while loosening financing curbs to rescue the property sector.

The securities regulator earlier this week lifted a ban on equity refinancing for listed firms, in the latest support measure for the cash-squeezed real estate sector. Markets cheered the move, with shares and bonds of Chinese property companies rising.

Analysts from Nomura said in a report on Monday areas and facilities representing some 25.1% of China’s total GDP was now under lockdown, up from the previous peak value of 21.2% recorded in April, when Shanghai was under a full-scale lockdown.

The official manufacturing PMI largely focuses on big and state-owned firms. The private sector Caixin manufacturing PMI, which centers more on small firms and coastal regions, will be published on Thursday.