China News Service, Beijing, March 31 (Reporter Wang Enbo) China's National Bureau of Statistics announced on March 31 that due to factors such as the epidemic, China's manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) in March was 49.5%, down 0.7 points from the previous month. percent, below the critical point.
Zhao Qinghe, a senior statistician at the Service Industry Survey Center of the National Bureau of Statistics, analyzed that due to the current round of the epidemic, some enterprises in some parts of China temporarily reduced production and stopped production, and affected the normal production and operation of upstream and downstream related enterprises. Export orders were reduced or cancelled, and manufacturing activity and market demand weakened.
In March, the production index and new orders index were 49.5% and 48.8%, respectively, down 0.9 and 1.9 percentage points from the previous month, and both fell to the contraction range.
In the month, affected by the recent sharp fluctuations in international commodity prices and other factors, the purchase price index and ex-factory price index of major raw materials were 66.1% and 56.7%, respectively, 6.1 and 2.6 percentage points higher than the previous month, and both rose to near 5-month highs .
From the perspective of the industry, the purchase price index and ex-factory price index of the main raw materials in upstream industries such as petroleum coal and other fuel processing, ferrous metal smelting and rolling processing, non-ferrous metal smelting and rolling processing, etc. both exceeded 70.0%, which brought a relatively high impact on the middle and downstream industries. high cost pressure.
In March, the high-tech manufacturing PMI was 50.4%, which was down from the previous month, but remained in the expansion range.
From the perspective of enterprise employment and market expectations, the employment index and business activity expectation index of high-tech manufacturing were 52.0% and 57.8%, respectively, 3.4 and 2.1 percentage points higher than the overall manufacturing industry.
It shows that the high-tech manufacturing industry has strong development resilience, and enterprises continue to be optimistic about the future market development.
Zhao Qinghe also mentioned that some surveyed companies reported that due to the impact of the current round of the epidemic, there were insufficient personnel, poor logistics and transportation, and prolonged delivery cycles.
The supplier delivery time index this month was 46.5%, 1.7 percentage points lower than the previous month, and the lowest since March 2020. The stability of the manufacturing supply chain has been affected to a certain extent.
In March, the non-manufacturing business activity index was 48.4%, 3.2 percentage points lower than the previous month, and the non-manufacturing business activity level declined.
Among them, the service industry was significantly affected by the current round of the epidemic, and the business activity index was 46.7%, 3.8 and 8.5 percentage points lower than the previous month and the same period of the previous year, respectively.
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