Others News
- Manufacturing activity rises
Date: 4-Jun-2007 Sources: (Shenzhen Daily)
THE country's manufacturing activity rose in May to the highest in more than two years, according to a survey by Hong Kong-based CLSA Asia Pacific Markets.
The Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) climbed to 54.1 from 53.3 in April, CLSA said Friday in an e-mailed statement. That is the highest since April 2005.
The pace of China's economic growth accelerated to 11.1 percent in the first quarter from 10.4 percent in the previous three months. The central bank this year raised interest rates twice and ordered banks to set aside more money as reserves five times to cool lending and investment.
'Accelerated monetary tightening measures should be expected over the next six months as the Central Government fights to regain control of its overheating economy,'Jim Walker, CLSA's chief economist, said in a statement.
The output index rose to 54.6 in May from 53.6 in April, while the index of new orders jumped to 56.1 from 54.8. The index of export orders climbed to 55.8 from 53.6.
A separate PMI, published earlier Friday by the National Bureau of Statistics and the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing, fell to 55.7 in May, the lowest reading in three months, from a two-year high of 58.6 in April.
The government survey tends to match the trend in industrial production for the coming two months, while CLSA's study better reflects current activity, according to Wang Qian, an economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in Hong Kong.
The CLSA PMI is based on data compiled from monthly replies to questionnaires sent to purchasing executives at more than 400 industrial companies. A reading above 50 reflects an expansion and a reading below 50 a contraction.
The survey tracks changes in output, new orders, employment, prices, inventories and delivery times. The data is seasonally adjusted.
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