China Manufacturing Starts 2022 Off With a Whimper, Caixin PMI Shows

Activity in China’s manufacturing sector shrank in January for the second time in three months, as Covid-19 flare-ups in the country restricted production and demand of manufactured goods, a Caixin-sponsored survey showed Sunday.

The Caixin China General Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), which gives an independent snapshot of the country’s manufacturing sector, fell to 49.1 in January from 50.9 in December, the survey report showed. A number above 50 signals an expansion in activity, while a reading below that indicates a contraction. The January reading was the lowest since February 2020, when vast swathes of the Chinese economy were shut down after Covid-19 broke out domestically.