China factory activity slows in October
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Beijing: Chinese manufacturing expansion slowed in October after two consecutive months of acceleration, official data showed Tuesday, as weak demand weighed on the world's second-largest economy.
The manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI), a gauge of factory conditions, stood at 51.6 in October, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said, compared to 52.4 in September, which marked a five-year high.
Anything above 50 is considered growth while a figure below that number points to contraction. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News had expected a reading of 52.
October's week-long National Day holiday slowed down production and new orders growth, and energy and pollution-intensive industries shifted peak load or reduced production due to tightened environmental controls in some regions, NBS analyst Zhao Qinghe said in a statement.
China has implemented tight controls on heavy industry in hopes of improving the country's notoriously bad air quality, which typically worsens in the winter months.
