China's manufacturing activity maintained a slower expansion in August, revealed by a private survey on Monday.
The Caixin China General Manufacturing Purchase Managers' Index (PMI) stood at 50.6 for August, hitting a 14-month low, according to the survey conducted by financial information service provider Markit and sponsored by Caixin Media Co. Ltd.
The findings were lower than the official gauge of 51.3 released last Friday.
The output of China's manufacturing industry continued to expand, but new orders signaled the slowest growth since May 2017. The slowdown is partly due to weaker external demand with export sales falling for five consecutive months.
Meanwhile, employment was shrinking amid rising workloads and inflationary pressure. Input costs and output prices all showed a significant increase, according to the survey.
"The manufacturing sector showed a weaker demand, but the output remained flourishing. In this case, steady production can hardly sustain amid lackluster demand, said Zhengsheng Zhong, director of Macroeconomic Analysis at CEBM Group, "The unfavorable employment could also post threats to consumption growth under the background of downward pressure facing China's economy."
