Purchasing Managers Index for March 2023

1. Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index

In March, the Purchasing Manager Index (PMI) of China's manufacturing industry was 51.9 percent, decrease 0.7 percentage points from the previous month, higher than the threshold, and the manufacturing industry keep it trend of expansion.

In terms of enterprise size, the PMI of large, medium-sized and small enterprises was 53.6, 50.3 and 50.4 percent respectively, decrease 0.1, 1.7 and 0.8 percentage points from the previous month, all higher than the threshold;

From the sub-indexes, among the five sub-indexes that constitute the manufacturing PMI, the production index, new order index and supplier delivery time index were all higher than the threshold, and the raw material inventory index and employee index were lower than the threshold.

The production index was 54.6 percent, decrease 2.1 percentage points from the previous month, and still higher than the threshold, indicating that manufacturing production activities continued to expand.

The new order index was 53.6 percent, decrease 0.5 percentage points from the previous month, and still higher than the threshold, indicating a continuous increase in manufacturing market demand.

The raw material inventory index was 48.3 percent, decrease 1.5 percentage point from the previous month, indicating that the inventory of major raw materials in the manufacturing industry was in expanded decline.

The employment index was 49.7 percent, decrease 0.5 percentage point from the previous month, indicating a decline in the prosperity level of employment of manufacturing enterprises.

The supplier delivery time index was 50.8 percent, decrease 1.2 percentage points from the previous month, and still higher than the threshold, indicating that the delivery time of raw material suppliers in the manufacturing industry continues to decrease.

2. Non-manufacturing Purchasing Managers index

In March, the non-manufacturing business activity index was 58.2 percent, increase 1.9 percentage point from the previous month, higher than the threshold, indicating an accelerated recovery of the non-manufacturing industry.

By industry, the business activity index of the construction industry was 65.6 percent, increase 5.4 percentage points from the previous month. The business activity index of the service industry was 56.9 percent, increase 1.3 percentage points from the previous month.

From the perspective of the industry, the business activity index of retailing, railway transportation, road transportation, air transportation, internet software and information technology services, monetary and financial services, leasing and business services was in the higher boom range of more than 60.0 percent;the business activity index of sectors such as wholesale and sea transport was below the threshold.

The new order index was 57.3 percent, increase 1.5 percentage points from the previous month, and higher than the threshold, indicating a continuous increase in non-manufacturing market demand.

By industry, the new order index of the construction industry was 50.2 percent, decrease 11.9 percentage point from the previous month; the index of new orders in the service industry was 58.5 percent, increase 3.8 percentage points from the previous month.

The input price index was 50.3 percent, decrease 0.8 percentage points from the previous month and higher than the threshold, indicating that the increase of overall level of input prices used by non-manufacturing enterprises for business activities has decreased.

By industry, the construction industry input price index was 54.4 percent, decrease 0.9 percentage points from the previous month; the price index of service industry inputs was 49.6 percent, decrease 0.8 percentage points from the previous month.

The sales price index was 47.8 percent, decrease 3.0 percentage points from the previous month, falling below the threshold, indicating that the overall non-manufacturing sales prices has decreased.

By industry, the sales price index of the construction industry was 50.9 percent, decrease 2.7 percentage point from the previous month; the sales price index of the service industry was 47.3 percent, decrease 3.1 percentage points from the previous month.

The employment index was 49.2 percent, decrease 1.0 percentage point from the previous month, indicating a decline in the prosperity level of employment of non-manufacturing enterprises.

In terms of industries, the construction industry employee index was 51.3 percent, decrease 7.3 percentage point from the previous month; the index of service industry employees was 48.8 percent, increase 0.1 percentage points from the previous month.

The expected index of business activities was 63.3 percent, decrease 1.6 percentage points from the previous month, and continued to be in the higher boom range, indicating that non-manufacturing enterprises maintained strong confidence about the recent market recovery and development.

By industry, the expected index of business activities in the construction industry was 63.7 percent, decrease 2.1 percentage points from the previous month; the expected index of business activities in the service industry was 63.2 percent, decrease 1.6 percentage points from the previous month.

3. Composite PMI Output Index

In March, the comprehensive PMI output index was 57.0 percent, increase 0.6 percentage points from the previous month, and is in the higher boom range, indicating that the overall production and operation of Chinese enterprises continued to improve.