Workers make sneakers in a factory in Jinjiang city in southeast China’s Fujian province Friday, Jan. 03, 2020.
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China said on Friday its official manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index came in at 50.0 for January, said the National Bureau of Statistics.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected the official January manufacturing PMI to come in at 50.0.
The official manufacturing PMI — a survey of purchasing managers — was 50.2 in December.
PMI readings above 50 indicate expansion, while those below that level signal contraction.
The manufacturing PMI was released just after the World Health Organization on Thursday declared a coronavirus outbreak that started in Wuhan, China as a global health emergency.
China’s statistics bureau in its analysis of the data said that the impact of the coronavirus outbreak was not fully reflected in its January’s PMI reading as the survey was conducted before Jan. 20.
China’s National Health Commission on Friday said there have been an additional 43 deaths and 1,982 new cases were confirmed, as of the end of Thursday. That brings the country’s total deaths to 213 and 9,692 confirmed cases, the government said.
China’s economy was already under pressure since last year amid a long-drawn trade war with the U.S.. Now, the outbreak of the coronavirus will likely put even more strain on the world’s second largest economy which has seen slower growth.
To prevent the virus from spreading further, a number of provinces in China are extending ongoing long Lunar New Year holidays — a move that will hit businesses and global supply chains.
Global markets have been selling off this week as investors fears of widespread economic fallout from the coranavirus outbreak.
The official PMI survey typically polls a large proportion of big businesses and state-owned enterprises. Results of a private manufacturing PMI survey by Markit/Caixin — which features a bigger mix of small- and medium-sized firms — will be released on Monday.