6th August 2025: July PMI

Описание: This episode contains segments on:





• China July Purchasing Managers’ Indices (PMI);
• Consumer goods trade-in programme in the fourth quarter;
• Politburo meeting on economic work priorities; and
• Compliance guidelines for fee collection by online platforms.





The Chamber is revisiting a quarter century of advocacy in China through the EU-China Business Chronicle Series.










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Read more:






Official July manufacturing and non-manufacturing PMI (NBS)






https://www.stats.gov.cn/sj/zxfb/2025...






S&P Global China General Manufacturing and Services PMI






https://www.pmi.spglobal.com/Public/H...






https://www.pmi.spglobal.com/Public/H...






Consumer goods trade-in programme






https://www.gov.cn/lianbo/bumen/20250...






https://english.www.gov.cn/news/20250...






Politburo meeting






http://www.news.cn/politics/leaders/2...






Online platform fees






https://www.samr.gov.cn/zw/zfxxgk/fdz...






Transcript:






RUI: Hello and welcome to China ShortCuts,






MARIANN: the European Chamber’s weekly catchup on China’s business landscape.






RUI: This episode was recorded on 6th August 2025.






(MUSIC)






RUI: Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics at the end of last month showed that manufacturing activity in China went into a fourth consecutive month of contraction in July. At the same time, growth in the non-manufacturing sector—comprising services and construction—decelerated to the slowest level since last November.






MARIANN: The official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index, or PMI, stood at 49.3 points in July – the lowest level recorded since April. Readings below 50 points indicate  contraction.






The decline in overall activity was propelled by a sharp drop in new orders, with demand slipping back into contraction territory after a brief expansion in May. A persistent fall in export orders continued and even accelerated during the past month.






The non-manufacturing PMI stood at 50.1 points, as growth in construction activity slowed and services activity stagnated in July amid declining demand.






(MUSIC)






RUI: Private surveys conducted by S&P Global—formerly in collaboration with Caixin—showed a similar picture of China’s manufacturing activity, with the S&P Global China General Manufacturing PMI dropping to 49.5 points in July. Service sector activity fared better, expanding at the fastest pace since May.






MARIANN: Much as the official PMI data did, S&P Global’s findings also linked the drop in manufacturing activity to a slowdown in growth of new orders, which was shown to result in a scaling back of production.  






Services PMI, meanwhile, came in at 52.6 points for July, up from the previous month. The expansion in July marks over two and a half years of continuous growth in services activity. Service prices rose for the first time since January and services firms expanded their workforce, according to data from S&P. The expansion comes on the back of a recovery in export volumes amid a lull in US-China trade tensions. Although service providers do not directly produce tariffed products, they often have goods-sector clients that do.






(MUSIC)






RUI: On 1st August, the National Development and Reform Commission confirmed that an additional 69 billion Chinese yuan in funds for China’s consumer goods trade-in programme would be released for the fourth quarter of the year.






MARIANN: This will complete the 300 billion Chinese yuan in funding from special treasury bonds that was allocated for local governments to implement the trade-in programme throughout 2025. The programme—which subsidises a range of consumer goods, including cars and home appliances—is intended to boost household consumption amidst the ongoing economic slowdown. While policymakers have been conservative with the use of direct-to-consumer subsidies, the trade-in programme—which is intended to help consumers replace outdated and inefficient technology—is an exception. According to the European Chamber’s Business Confidence Survey 2025, China’s economic slowdown remains the top challenge to members’ future business, with the need to boost domestic demand now a high advocacy priority.






(MUSIC)






RUI: On 30th July, the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee held a meeting focused on the country’s economic situation and discussed work priorities for t...