(ICIS) -- China's manufacturing sector is expected to slow down through the rest of 2011 because of softer demand from overseas markets and export orders, industry sources said on Tuesday.
The country's purchasing managers' index (PMI) fell by 0.8 percentage points to 50.4% in October from September, according to data released by the China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing (CFLP) on Tuesday.
From September to October, the new orders index fell by 0.8 percentage points to 50.5%, while the production index dropped by 0.4 percentage points to 52.3%, according to the data. The declining PMI indicates that economic growth will continue to slow in the near future, said Zhang Liqun, an analyst from CFLP.
The country's third-quarter export and investment growth has slowed and companies are having problems with funding, Zhang added. The new export orders index dropped by 2.3 percentage points from September to 48.6% in October, the data showed. The decline reflects weaker demand from the international market due to the eurozone debt crisis, an analyst from China Customs said.