More bad news from China: Factory activity contracts for a third consecutive month
In the latest sign of China's economic slowdown factory output contracted in October for the third consecutive month, against expectations.
The official manufacturing purchasing managers' index came in at 49.8 for October, the same as September.
While the figure was the same, implying some stability, any number under 50 implies a contraction.
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Last month China's service sector slowed down, expanding at its slowest pace in seven years.
“Because of the recent weak recovery of the global economy and the downward pressure in the domestic economy, the import and export situation for manufacturers is still grim,” Zhao Qinghe of the National Bureau of Statistics of China said in a statement.
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China's industrial sector is a large drive of economic growth and one of the world's biggest consumers of commodities, which has fuelled falling commodity prices over fears that the world's second largest economy is slowing down.
Growth in the services sector has mitigated falls in manufacturing to some extent, but non-manufacturing PMI fell to 53.1 in October from 53.4 in September.
However, earlier this month it was announced China's economy grew by more than expected in the third quarter of this year, easing fears that it is slowing at a greater pace than previously thought.
It was also announced that China's imports tumbled further than forecast in September despite hitting a record-high trade surplus, with exports holding up far better than expected.