Activity in China’s manufacturing sector likely shrank at its fastest pace in three years in August, a Reuters poll suggested, adding to signs of deepening economic weakness which are shaking global financial markets.
The official manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) is forecast to edge down to 49.7, the weakest level since August 2012, from 50 in July, according to the median forecast of 20 economists in the poll.
A reading above 50 indicates an expansion in activity while one below that points to a contraction on a monthly basis.
A separate private survey released last week revealed that China’s factory sector shrank at its fastest rate in almost 6-1/2 years in August, fanning global concerns that the world’s second-largest economy may be slowing more sharply than earlier feared.
