February 29, 2020

The manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI), a closely watched gauge of China’s manufacturing activity, registered lowest in history in February due to the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the country’s businesses and production; however, analysts predict the figure to rebound considerably in March. 

February’s manufacturing PMI slumped 14.3 percentage points to 35.7 percent, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed Saturday.

All the 21 manufacturing industries have fallen back into the territory of contraction– below 50 percent. Pressure on the imports and exports in the manufacturing sector has mounted this month as a result of delivery cancelations in some companies triggered by apparent delays during the epidemic, Zhao Qinghe, a senior statistician with the NBS, said in a statement on Saturday.

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