FILE PHOTO: Employees work at a production line inside a factory of Saic GM Wuling, in Liuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, June 19, 2016. REUTERS/Norihiko Shirouzu
April 30, 2018
BEIJING (Reuters) – Growth in China’s manufacturing sector eased in April, as factory-gate prices stayed subdued in a possible sign of slowing domestic demand, while a simmering Sino-U.S. trade row heightened risks for the industrial sector.
The official Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) released on Monday fell to 51.4 in April, from 51.5 in March, and remained well above the 50-point mark that separates growth from contraction on a monthly basis.
Analysts surveyed by Reuters had forecast the reading would ease slightly to 51.3.
The weak findings add to concerns about an expected loss of momentum in the world’s second-largest economy, as policymakers navigate debt risks and a heated trade row with the United States.
(Reporting by Yifan Qiu and Matthew Miller; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)
