MNI 5 Things: China Sep Manufacturing PMI Slows on Trade Spat

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

manufacturing and non-manufacturing PMI data Sunday. MNI highlights five things

worth attention:

     --Official manufacturing PMI growth slowed at a faster pace than economists

predicted -- to 50.8 compared with the 51.3 median seen in an MNI survey, down

from 51.3 in August.

     --The September deceleration came after a modest rebound in August. The

September reading is the slowest since February, due in part to the slowing of

the economy and increased trade frictions with the U.S.

     --The production index dropped to 53 from 53.3 in August. New orders index

decelerated 0.2 percentage point to 52%, while new export orders slowed by 1.4

percentage points to 48%.

     --The non-manufacturing PMI rose to 54.9% in September, higher than the

54.2% seen in August. It was supported by rising needs of property construction

services, a rebound in the financial sector, and active growth of retail,

restaurant and postal services, said China Logistics Information Center, which

compiles the survey.

     --The faster services PMI growth underlines how the Chinese government's

campaign to increase consumption to offset the impacts of the China-U.S. trade

spat is taking effect. The government has vowed to further cut taxes and related

fees for China companies involved in trading with other countries, which could

also play a role in the faster services PMI growth.

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

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

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