Economic activity in China falls due to record rise in Covid cases

In November, China's economic activity declined more, which happened due to the record spread of COVID-19. Most likely, growth will remain weak. The central bank is expected to offer additional incentives to help the country's economic recovery.

This month's manufacturing purchasing managers’ index dropped to 48, becoming the lowest reading since April. This was reported by the National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday, adding that the figure was slightly worse than forecast by economists surveyed by Bloomberg, who had expected the index to be 49.

The non-manufacturing purchasing managers’ index fell to 46.7 this month, which is also below the consensus forecast of 48. In October, this indicator, measuring activity in the construction and services sectors, was at around 48.7. An indicator below 50 signals a decline, while a reading above 50 would indicate growth.

Economists' expectations are associated with a slowdown in growth to about 3%. This may lead to increased incentives from the government to accelerate the economic recovery in the coming year.