Purchasing Managers Index for May 2021

1. Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index

In May, the Purchasing Manager Index (PMI) of China's manufacturing industry was 51.0 percent, 0.1 percentage point lower than that of last month, and still higher than the threshold. The manufacturing industry kept expanding steadily.

From the perspective of enterprise scale, the PMI of large and medium-sized enterprises were 51.8 and 51.1 percent, respectively, higher than 0.1 and 0.8 percentage point of last month, both above the threshold; while the PMI of small enterprises was 48.8 percent, lower than 2.0 percentage points of last month.

From the perspective of sub index, in the five sub-indexes of manufacturing PMI, production index and new order index were higher than the threshold, while raw material inventory index, employee index and supplier delivery time index were lower than the threshold.

The production index was 52.7 percent, 0.5 percentage point higher than that of last month and above the threshold, indicating that the production expansion of manufacturing industry has strengthened.

The new orders index was 51.3 percent, down 0.7 percentage point from last month and above the threshold, indicating that the expansion of manufacturing market demand has slowed down.

The inventory index of raw materials was 47.7 percent, a decrease of 0.6 percentage point over the previous month, lower than the threshold, indicating that the inventory of main raw materials in the manufacturing industry decreased compared with the previous month.

The employee index was 48.9 percent, down 0.7 percentage point from the previous month, lower than the threshold, indicating that the employment outlook of manufacturing enterprises has declined.

The delivery time index of suppliers was 47.6 percent, 1.1 percentage points lower than that of last month, which was lower than the threshold, indicating that the delivery time of raw material suppliers in manufacturing industry was prolonged.

2. Non-manufacturing purchasing managers index

In May, the non-manufacturing business activity index was 55.2 percent, up 0.3 percentage point from last month, and the pace of non-manufacturing expansion got faster.

By industry, the construction industry business activity index was 60.1 percent, 2.7 percentage points higher than last month. The business activity index of service industry was 54.3 percent, 0.1 percentage point lower than that of last month. From the industry situation, the business activity index of railway transportation, air transportation, accommodation, telecommunications, radio and television satellite transmission services, culture, sports and entertainment industries was in the high prosperity range of more than 60.0 percent; the business activity index of water transportation, capital market services and real estate was below the threshold.

The index of new orders was 52.2 percent, up 0.7 percentage point from last month, still higher than the threshold, indicating that the demands in non-manufacturing market kept increasing. By industry, the new order index of construction industry was 53.8 percent, up 1.4 percentage points from last month; the index of new orders in the service industry was 52.0 percent, up 0.7 percentage point from the previous month.

The price index of inputs was 57.7 percent, up 2.8 percentage points from the previous month and above the threshold, indicating that the price increase of inputs used by non-manufacturing enterprises for business activities enlarged. By industry, the price index of construction inputs was 73.6 percent, up 8.9 percentage points from last month; the price index of service inputs was 54.9 percent, up 1.8 percentage points from last month.

The sales price index was 52.8 percent, 1.6 percentage points higher than that of last month, still higher than the threshold, indicating that the overall increase of sales price of non-manufacturing industry enlarged. By industry, the sales price index of the construction industry was 57.0 percent, up 0.3 percentage point from last month; the sales price index of the service industry was 52.0 percent, up 1.8 percentage points from last month.

The employment index was 48.9 percent, an increase of 0.2 percentage point over the previous month, indicating that the employment outlook of non-manufacturing industry was slightly improved. In terms of industries, the construction industry employee index was 53.0 percent, up 2.0 percentage points from last month; the employment index of the service industry was 48.2 percent, down 0.1 percentage point from the previous month.

The expected index of business activities was 62.9 percent, slightly down 0.1 percentage point from last month, continually stayed in the high economic zone, indicating that non-manufacturing enterprises remained optimistic about the development of the industry. By industry, the expected index of business activities in the construction industry was 65.7 percent, up 0.9 percentage point from last month; the expected index of business activities in the service industry was 62.4 percent, down 0.3 percentage point from last month.

3. Composite PMI Output Index

In May, the comprehensive PMI output index was 54.2 percent, 0.4 percentage points higher than that of last month, indicating that the overall production and operation activities of Chinese enterprises continued to expand steadily.