China’s manufacturing activity unexpectedly contracted in January, official data showed on Monday, in a sign of slowing momentum as the country prepares for the lunar new year holiday.
The country’s official purchasing managers’ index, a closely watched gauge amid a gloomy economic backdrop, came in at 49.1, below forecasts and the first contraction since September. A reading of above 50 marks an expansion.
The National Bureau of Statistics said manufacturing activity was “affected by the approaching . . . holiday”, which begins on Wednesday and sees hundreds of millions of Chinese workers travel to their hometowns.
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