China’s Economy Still Troubled, Based on PMI

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By Douglas A. McIntyre Updated Published
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China announced its gross domestic product (GDP) grew at 7.4% last year, which was a quarter of a percent low based on analysis by economists and journalists. Some fear the growth rate will go lower, which would be signal that a nation with a voracious appetite for imports from much of the rest of the world would be in trouble. The “good news” byproduct would be a drop in crude demand, which might keep oil prices down around $50. China also has a voracious appetite for oil. The HSBC Manufacturing PMI for December, put out in cooperation with research firm Markit, signaled that a large part of the economy of the People’s Republic remains crippled.

The data show, based on HSBC analyst conclusions:

China’s factories started 2015 on a flat note. At 49.8, the HSBC Manufacturing PMI mustered only a marginal rise from December’s seven-month low of 49.6, according to the flash estimate produced by Markit. The sub-50 reading means manufacturing conditions deteriorated for a second successive month, signalling a continuation of the near-constant malaise that has hit the Chinese manufacturing economy since mid-2011.

The numbers demonstrate that global GDP growth, already revised down for this year and next by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, will not be helped by the second largest economy in the world. Add to that the fact that Europe’s troubles have worsened, which has led the European Central Bank to begin a quantitative easing program much like the one the Federal Reserve had in place for years.

The news of trouble with the global economy keeps on coming. Another few months of this and worldwide growth will fall to a trickle.

ALSO READ: Why China’s President Just Got a 62% Pay Hike

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About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.

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