China’s Industry Sees Worst Performance in History with Advancing Coronavirus
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Amid the global surge in Covid-19 (coronavirus) cases, industrial activity in China, the world’s second-largest economy, dropped to an all-time low in February this year. The information was released on Saturday, February 29th (Friday night, 28th, Brasília time) by the National Bureau of Statistics (BNS).
The purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for the month of February stood at 35.7 points, against 50.0 in January, according to the BNS. A figure above 50 shows growth in activity and below it, a contraction. The result is much lower than projected by analysts consulted by Bloomberg (45.0) and the Wall Street Journal (43.0).
The automobile and specialized equipment sectors have been greatly affected, the BNS reported. But the Chinese organization remains optimistic: “the pneumonia epidemic by the new coronavirus has had greater repercussions (than expected) on the production and operations of Chinese companies, but it appears to be heading towards its control and the impact on production is gradually lessening”. Most analysts believe that China’s economic growth will be severely affected in the first quarter.
Brazil’s export economy is being hit hard by developments in China, its largest export market.
Source: Infomoney
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