Singapore’s primary Chinese language newspaper Lianhe Zaobao recently reported that data released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics showed the Chinese manufacturing PMI fell to 49.0 in October from 49.8 in September, below expectations. This marks the lowest point in the past six months, and the seventh consecutive month that the manufacturing sentiment indicator has contracted.
The production sub-index fell 2.2 percentage points from the previous month to 49.7, indicating a further slowdown in manufacturing production. The new orders sub-index dropped to 48.8, the largest decline since 2023, indicating a significant decrease in market demand. Among the new orders, new export orders fell sharply by 1.9 percentage points to 45.9, reflecting a weakening of both domestic and external demand.
Experts believe that the main reason for the manufacturing PMI decline is the drop in exports, which may reflect the waning of the “rush to export” effect in the early months of 2025. Besides weak market demand dragging down production, the implementation of anti-involution measures in some industries could also constrain capacity release. Despite the trade truce agreement reached between China and the U.S., China still needs more policy support to boost domestic demand and cope with internal and external uncertainties.
Source: Lianhe Zaobao, October 31, 2025
https://www.zaobao.com.sg/finance/china/story20251031-7750511