MNI 5 THINGS: China January Mfg PMI Fell to Near Three-Yr Low

     BEIJING (MNI) - China's National Bureau of Statistics released

manufacturing and non-manufacturing PMI data Thursday. MNI highlights five

things:

     --Manufacturing PMI dropped to 49.2 in Feb after a modest rebound to 49.5

last month, missing the forecast of 49.4 seen in an MNI survey. The index fell

to the lowest level since March 2016 and remains in contraction territory below

the 50 breakeven mark.

     --Manufacturing activities have slowed, as the production index dropped 1.4

percentage point to 49.5 in Feb from last month, affected by the week-long

Chinese New Year, the NBS said. 

     --Demand has picked up and manufacturers' expectations are improved. The

new orders index climbed 1 percentage point to 50.6, back into expansion

territory. And the market expectation index jumped by 3.7 percentage point to

56.2%, hitting a four month high, the NBS said. New export orders, which

reflects external demand, dropped to 45.2 from 46.9 in Jan, indicating that

export growth may decline. 

     --Raw materials purchase prices and ex-factory prices rebounded due to the

price gain of some international commodities. Both indexes rose by 5.6 and 4.0

percentage points respectively from Jan, recording 51.9 and 48.5 in Feb.

     --Non-manufacturing PMI slipped to 54.3 from 54.7 in Jan, well within

expansionary territory, indicating that overall growth in the sector has been

accelerating.

--MNI Beijing Bureau; +86 (10) 8532-5998; email: wanxia.lin@marketnews.com

--MNI London Bureau; tel: +44 203-586-2225; email: les.commons@marketnews.com

[TOPICS: MAQDS$,MAUDR$,MAUDS$,M$A$$$,M$Q$$$,M$U$$$]