TOKYO: This year has seen a decline in the growth of the Chinese economy, a cause that analysts believe to be the main driver of 2015’s global economic slowdown. The world’s largest economy’s GDP growth rate has declined to 6.9% according to the most recent quarter’s reports.
Among the reasons given for the weaker growth are disappointing trade and manufacturing. China’s manufacturing activity has hit a 3-year low while Japan’s is rising at the fastest pace since over a year. In the latest report from China, manufacturing activity across most major companies has taken a nosedive in November. This is believed to be a direct result of the global economic slowdown.
China’s National Bureau of Statistics announced that the nation’s official Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), the measurement of activity of major companies, has fallen to its lowest point since August of 2012. Any reading under a 50 shows a contraction in the manufacturing sector and China has seen a constant drop in the last four months with the latest number reported at 49.6.
This figure was below what most analysts expected even though they had taken in account the mounting pressure on the local manufacturers from the falling exports, which all contributed to the economy’s slower growth. Due to falling exports, the government hoped that domestic demand would rise to offset it. However, the latest statistics show that the local demand is also falling, even though not as fast.
